


Of Tea and High Buildings

by SquibblesMcGoo



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: (Attempted) Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Corporate, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Boss/Employee Relationship, CEO Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Chronic Shitposter Erwin, Erwin is the bro we need but don't deserve, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Levi is a Grump(y Daddy), Levi is a fussy old man and we wouldn't have him any other way, Possessive Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Reader-Insert, Rejected Attempts at Sugardaddery, Resolved Sexual Tension, Socially inept Levi, Suit Levi Best Levi, That Ivory Tower be Hiiiigh, Unanswered booty calls, Unprofessional Conduct, Unreasonable Working Conditions, Workplace Relationship, failed attempts at flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2020-06-30 09:47:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 91,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19850611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquibblesMcGoo/pseuds/SquibblesMcGoo
Summary: Levi releases a deep exhale, characteristically stoic but clearly out of his depth. He crosses one leg over the other and gives you a cool, unreadable look."I'm saying that, of all the women around me, you're the least insufferable one."Your answer is polite yet chilly."Is that a compliment, sir?""It's an offer, Assistant. I'm telling you to marry me."





	1. Ginger White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm glad you're here! Enjoy~
> 
> P.S. Reader's name will literally be "Reader" because I don't like "y/n" or "____". Hope ya don't mind!

It’s 6:15 a.m. when your alarm clock starts screeching on your bedside table. With a groan, you reach a hand to turn it off, missing a few times.

You sit up painstakingly and yawn.

The weekend went by in a flash again. You shouldn’t sleep so late on your precious days off.

“Alexa,” you mutter to the device on your coffee table with a stuffy, sleepy voice. “Play Playlist 3.”

As the slow, peaceful jazz fills the room, you wander around your studio apartment and pull aside the heavy curtains to let in some sunshine. Jazz always makes Monday mornings a bit more bearable.

Despite having lived here for almost a year, you’re still not used to the view from the 21st floor. Your breath gets stuck in your lungs with a brief moment of vertigo. You never liked heights much.

You feel a slight headache as you wander past the small corner where you have your couch and TV, to the compact but modern kitchen.

It must be the wine you had well into last night.

You prepare a proper breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and tangerines and eat by your tiny, two-seat table. You look outside absent-mindedly, of the neighbouring skyscrapers and ant-sized cars down below.

It’s 6:45 as you load your dishes in the dishwasher and carelessly toss the frying pan in the sink. You’ll wash it later. The ridiculous tidiness requirements at work are enough for you. At home, you thoroughly enjoy being as much of a slob as you want.

You hop in the shower and sigh as the warm spray of water falls on you. As you scrub your hair clean, you recap the schedule for the day in your mind.

You step out and dry your hair with a blow-dryer right away before pulling it on a tight, high ponytail. You trim your eyebrows and walk to your wardrobe wearing nothing but your towel.

You pull on nude stockings, a sharp, black pencil skirt and a white, neatly ironed button-up shirt. Your regular work attire.

A tooth-brushing and a thin layer of natural-looking make-up later, you’re ready for work. You pull on a thin jacket and a pair of heels, carelessly throw your phone in your purse and double-check you’ve got everything you need.

One last glance in the large, full-body mirror in the hallway to make sure you look presentable, and you’re out of the door at 7:40 sharp. The clacking sound of your heels echoes in the hallway as you make your way to the elevator.

You yawn and stretch as the elevator rolls down to the basement floor. You grab your car keys from your bag as you arrive to the underground parking lot. You walk up to your car and unlock the doors.

As soon as you’ve sat inside your fresh-smelling, squeaky clean car, your phone starts ringing in your purse.

You use the Bluetooth-equipped touch screen that's attached to the car stereo to pick up the phone call. It’s made your life a lot easier since you no longer need to fumble with a hands-free. The Chairman tends to complain if you take more than four dial tones to answer.

“Manager, good morning,” you greet politely as you start the car.

“Morning,” Mike Zacharias’ staticky voice rings back from your car’s speakers. “Hope your weekend was great. I’ll get straight to the point, I need a favour.”

“Don’t we always,” you sigh. “What is it?”

“The Chairman fired his driver.”

“Again? Why am I not surprised,” you mumble so quiet Mike doesn’t hear you, and roll your eyes. “What did this one do?”

“Smelt too much of sweat,” Mike informs you. “You need to pick up the Chairman today.”

You blow an unimpressed raspberry and reach for your glove box. You take out some air freshener and spray the car thoroughly.

“There goes my plan of grabbing some coffee on the way,” you mutter. The Chairman can’t stand eating or drinking in cars. He finds the threat of spillage too imminent. “Fine. Let him know I’ll be there in about 15, depending on the traffic.”

“Thanks, Reader,” Mike replies and hangs up. You look around the car once more to confirm the legroom in the backseat is free of any and all items and that there are no dust, stains or crumbles on the seats. You turn on the radio and select a station dedicated entirely to classical music. The Chairman likes instrumental tunes the best.

You then drive out of the parking lot, waving at the security guard as you pass by his booth.

It’s been five years since you started working for The Ackerman Corporation. What started off as a small, independent software firm has grown into a multibillion-dollar cybersecurity business under its last two chairmen. Kenny Ackerman, the former chairman, made the company go through a rapid growth spurt in the 90s and 2000s when viruses and computer contamination first became a pressing issue, and after retiring abruptly in his 50s and handing down his position to his nephew, the growth has remained consistent.

Even despite your impressive track record in university, you must have also done a lot right during your career with The Ackerman Corp. After two mere years as an entry-level employee, you were handpicked by the Chairman to be his secretary and personal assistant, after attending a couple meetings in his presence.

You never asked him why. You just took what you could. The salary is more than what you could hope for at your age and experience. The health and retirement plans are also impeccable. Plus, you _were_ aware that the Chairman uses somehow unconventional metrics in his recruitment processes. Thus, no one was _too_ surprised when he picked a complete novice. What no one, including yourself, expected was to last this long in your position.

For whatever reason, you’ve managed to hold your position a record time. Usually, the Chairman fires whoever is directly responsible for his comfort at least once a year, and the few he doesn’t have always quit on their own before two years is up.

You stop in front of the Chairman’s apartment building. It’s even taller than yours, heavily guarded and only has important-looking people walking through the doors.

Even though your car is brand new and not by any means cheap, it still sticks out like a sore thumb.

A couple of minutes later, the Chairman marches out, looking as displeased as always. His expensive suit and tie are ironed to silky smooth, completely void of wrinkles. His shoes are polished so thoroughly they’re shining in the sunlight and his neatly cut hair is styled perfectly with not one strand out of place. Levi Ackerman, the head of The Ackerman Corporation. Your boss.

He hops to the backseat before you have the chance to get out and open the door for him. He slams the door closed after himself and snorts to himself.

“Morning, sir,” you greet him and wait until he’s fastened his seat belt before you start driving towards the Ackerman Office.

From the rear-view mirror, you can see his dark eyes humour you with a brief glance, as a reply to your greeting. You know that’s more than most people could hope for, but that doesn’t keep you from rolling your eyes as inconspicuously as possible. Always so blunt, always so rude and always blatantly uninterested in anyone’s comfort but his own.

“Schedule,” he orders simply.

“Meeting with the Human Resources team at 9:20. The Microsoft executive has informed us that he’ll phone around 11 regarding the possible deal. Your father has requested a lunch meeting-“

“Decline,” Levi cuts in without missing a beat.

“Sir, you’ve declined all meetings with your father for a month now,” you point out. “He’s getting agitated.” You have no idea what the feud is about between Levi and his father, but it’s been going on for quite some time. Levi rejects all invitations to meet.

The violin concerto in the background changes to an opera aria.

“And I’ll continue to do so until he gets the hint,” Levi replies steadily and doesn’t as much as detach his eyes from the window. “Next.”

“The rest of the day is free save for an online meeting with the overseas sales team at 17:30,“ you finish.

Levi clicks his tongue without further comment. You drive quietly for a while, and every time you glance at the rear-view mirror, his frown has deepened.

“Turn off this insufferable screeching,” he finally snaps. You obediently turn off the radio, unaffected by his tone of voice. You’re used to him barking commands when he’s in a foul mood.

“Not much for high culture, sir?” you ask, well-mannered but cool. A jab so slight you can get away with it undetected.

“I hate opera,” comes the straightforward response. You shrug. As you drive, you follow the speed limits religiously. You know President Ackerman is very particular about obeying traffic regulations.

Arriving at the office building, you halt in front of the large skyscraper. A valet hurries to the car and blinks when he sees Levi inside. The Chairman usually arrives in a limousine. He opens the back door, and Levi climbs out without a word.

You grab Levi’s suitcase from the back seat, step out and allow the valet to get inside and park the vehicle for you. Usually, you would park by yourself in the employee section, but today you’re in Levi’s company.

You follow him inside. The receptionist wishes Levi good morning to no response as you walk past her to the elevators. You swipe your key card and select the top floor.

“Did you get a new perfume?” Levi suddenly asks. You blink.

“I don’t think so. If anything, I think I forgot to put on perfume today,” you admit, a little taken aback. Levi thinks it over for a moment.

“It’s better than usual,” he finally comments bluntly, just as you step out of the elevator. You raise an eyebrow.

“I see,” you reply, making a point of not thanking him for complimenting your smell of all things. Not that he cares, he’s already disregarded the conversation as not worthy of continuing and started making his way to his office.

Were this any other person, you would probably complain to Historia Reiss of Human Resources about inappropriate conduct, but it’s the Chairman you’re speaking of.

He always does and says whatever suits him, and you know there’s no hidden, creepy meaning to his words. He’s just very particular about smells. And aesthetics. And audio. Everything, basically.

Which is why his assistant turnover rate is almost as high as this skyscraper. You, however, have long since learnt to put up with it.

You walk after Levi into his wide, sterile office. Levi marches to his desk and sits down with a huff. He crosses his legs and leans back on the chair, giving the room an all-too-familiar look-around to make sure everything’s been cleaned overnight just as he instructed.

The leather couch and armchairs in the corner have been scrubbed and oiled as ordered. The glass table has been polished. The mini bar has been stocked. Everything on his desk, down to every single pen, has been arranged in a particular order.

The huge glass wall behind him that oversees the busy city center is completely smudge-free. The sun is already up and shining bright.

Levi’s eyes pause, and when you walk to the desk to set down his suitcase, you see he’s watching a teapot with an unreadable expression. Placing a teapot on the desk is not a part of the cleaning instructions.

“Who made this tea?” he asks sharply. You tilt your head a little. Usually, you’re the one who makes Levi’s morning tea.

“I don’t know, sir. Could be Intern Arlert,” you make an educated guess. The new kid. Super motivated and hellbent on being nice to everyone. A usually futile struggle when it comes to the Chairman.

Levi clicks his tongue.

“It’s cold already. Throw it out and make a fresh batch.”

You take the pot carefully and peek inside. The tea is still steaming and smells delicious.

“Sir, I think it’s still-”

“I didn’t stutter, Assistant Reader,” Levi cuts in, displeased. “New tea. Ginger White.”

You sigh a little, like a mother witnessing their child throwing a temper tantrum.

“Yes, sir,” you hum and walk out of the office. You make your way through the small reception area that only consists of your desk, a coat rack and an armchair.

The hallway is polished, lined with a collection of expensive maple doors leading to the offices of everyone who works in this floor. You can hear the steady sound of typing, ringing phones and printing machines from inside most of the offices.

As you walk into the break room, you almost crash into Armin Arlert, who’s just about to exit with a cup of coffee.

“Oh, Assistant Reader,” he blinks. “Good morning!”

Armin is a new intern. Officially, he works under Technical Manager Zoë, but it’s obvious he’s also hoping to get on Levi’s good side. To be fair, he’s exceedingly nice and courteous to everyone, it’s not like he’s doing it to climb the ladder.

Armin sees the teapot in your hands and frowns in confusion.

“Is there something wrong with the tea?” he asks. You give him a consoling pat on the shoulder.

“The Chairman feels like Ginger White today. Sorry,” you hum and walk to the sink. You start preparing a new batch, ignoring the way you can feel Armin’s eyes on your back. The break room is, as usual, spotless. The long dining table, coffee maker, fridge and induction cooktop are all carefully scrubbed.

Levi has ordered the whole floor to be cleaned every single night.

“Oh… I made some for Manager Zoë and thought I could make some for the Chairman as well,” Armin replies, a little disappointed.

“Don’t look into it too much. The Chairman is very particular about a lot of things,” you console him. You put in the tea leaves and turn to face Armin. His blonde hair, bright blue eyes and brown suit that looks just a bit too big on him. Fresh out of college and hoping his internship will turn into fulltime employment, he looks the part perfectly. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other and smiles insecurely.

“So I’ve heard,” he confesses. “I also heard that you’ve worked as the Chairman’s assistant for longer than anyone before you.”

You make a non-committal noise.

“I’m just curious. Why did so many people quit?”

You raise an eyebrow.

“Are you trying to get me to gossip, Arlert?” you ask, amused. He instantly blushes and waves both of his hands to deny it.

“No! I would never want to gossip about the Chairman. It’s just that I’ve heard lower level employees never get a chance to talk with him aside from you and I was wondering what kind of person he is. That’s all.”

“What kind of person…” you trail off and muse quietly for a moment.

“A fussy nagger with very little patience, whose only interest is the bottom line?” you offer with a shrug. Levi wants things his way, he doesn’t care about other people’s feelings and you don’t think you’ve ever seen him smile.

“Oh.” Armin drops his gaze. You look over his defeated face and know what the disappointment is about. Among the company, Levi is notoriously absent from company-wide gatherings and meetings. He only deals with people high up the ladder, he never deems visiting the regular employees worth the effort. He never agrees to interviews or media appearances.

All that has made him into kind of a myth. Gossip and rumours regarding his personality and business practices routinely circle the office corridors, only fuelled whenever he fires a personal assistant or has someone quit on him.

“But you’ve worked as his assistant for longer than anyone before you, right?” Armin asks curiously. You nod nonchalantly. That’s true. Maybe you’re more patient than most.

“Are… Are you and the Chairman possibly-“

“Stop that right there,” you tell him and make a sour face. You shudder at the thought of having to deal with his grumpy, eccentric personality not only Monday to Friday 8 to 6, but evenings and weekends at well. The mere thought is enough to give you a headache.

You look over Armin. He doesn’t look like he’s asking to be a gossip, he’s just the kind of person who naturally inquires about whatever catches his interest. It’s not a bad thing. In many aspects, knowledge is power.

It’s not the first time someone’s asked that, directly or indirectly. A lot of people have mistaken your patience for his ridiculous demands as romantic affection. But that’s far from the truth. You merely stomach the Chairman better than most, and vice versa. He seems less routinely irritated with you than he does with the rest of his employees.

You finish brewing the tea and give Armin a small smile as you pass by him.

“Just keep your head low and try not to get in the Chairman’s way too much. It would be a shame if he fired you.” Despite your light tone of voice, you’re conveying a genuine warning. Levi does not like people barging into his personal space or doing things he hasn’t asked for.

Armin nods, he understands the implication loud and clear.

"Thanks. I'll try my best."

"Atta boy," you chirp and set course towards Levi's office.

You walk in just to witness Levi in the middle of an argument.

“No,“ he snaps tensely into his cell phone. “I don’t care if it’s tradition, I’m not going to tie myself to some annoying-”

He’s cut off and whatever the person in the other end is saying, it makes him narrow his eyes angrily.

“That’s rich, coming from you,” he points out with a chilly tone. “I don’t care what you want, old man. Stop sending me those pictures or I’ll block your e-mail. I’m not interested.”

With that, Levi hangs up and chucks the phone on the desk. There’s a dark cloud over his head when he turns his eyes to you.

“Tea,” he orders curtly. You walk to the desk and pour him a cup of Ginger White. He takes it without a word, in his signature way of holding the cup from above, and sips. He rolls the tea around in his mouth for a second before letting out his customary grunt of approval and taking another sip.

You leave Levi with his tea and start making your way to the door. You have an entire weekend’s worth of unread mails and missed calls to sort through.

“Assistant Reader.”

Levi’s voice is thoughtful.

“Sir?” You turn. He’s turned his expensive, leather-coated office chair around and is now facing the window with his tea cup.

“Have you ever thought about marriage?” he asks.

You raise an eyebrow at his back. So that’s what the phone call was about.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding your father, sir? Because he keeps pushing you to marry?”

“Answer the question, Assistant,” he orders. You think it over and shrug.

“I guess I would like to marry one day, sir,” you answer truthfully, a little confused.

“Is that what most normal people desire? Tying themselves to another person?” Levi still hasn’t turned to face you but from the tone of his voice alone you can tell that he’s puzzled. To be honest, you can’t imagine him marrying anyone.

“I suppose so."

“Why?”

“There are many reasons. Some do it for money, some do it for security. It’s reassuring that there’s someone to care for you during your weak moments. Some do it for children, some for political gain-“

“Those sound like stupid reasons. Don’t you think so?”

“No, sir, I don’t,” you counter. One thing you’ve learned about the Chairman is that during discussions like these, he doesn’t want to be blindly agreed with. He’s asking because he genuinely doesn’t understand but wants to.

“No?” Levi turns around with a raise of his eyebrow. “Then what's your reason? Why do you want to marry?”

He places his tea cup back down on the desk and adjusts his tie. You shrug.

“I don’t know what the reason will be once I marry. If I ever do.”

Levi thinks it over and turns back around with a dismissive flick of his wrist.

“That’s all. You may go.” He ends the discussion just as abruptly as he started it. Why are you not surprised?

You leave the room and sit down at your desk outside. You rub your temple and tap the heel of your shoe a little.

You really need some coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the worst. I'm literally one chapter away from finishing The Carnivore (and, to be fair, I've written about half of that final chapter). I was trying to finish it but this idea just wouldn't leave my mind (may or may not be because I've been replaying Jumin's route in Mystic Messenger and re-reading Secretary Kim...) so I decided to start the first chapter juuuust a little bit. And yeah I snapped back to reality eight hours later with a full chapter in my hands, so I decided to put it out there just to see if it's at all something people are interested in :)
> 
> I'm at my most insecure at the start of a new story since I have no idea if people enjoy the premise and characterisations. So, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Did you like it? Would you like me to continue the (eventual) love story of Levi "Grumpy Suit Daddy" Ackerman and Assistant "Lowkey Serving Sass" Reader? Let me know! ^^


	2. Quince Black

You keep your gaze firmly ahead, away from the giant see-through wall as you walk along the huge glass corridor, towards the restaurant. Of course, this dinner had to take place in an establishment that’s on the top floor of a freaking skyscraper. Why do rich people love high places?

It’s nearing seven in the evening; the standard Tuesday went by in a flash. Levi has been his usual stoic self, and you’ve done your best to forget about the weird interrogation he made you go through yesterday.

It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that his father, Mr Dietrich, is the one at the root of that odd conversation. He must be pressuring his son into marrying.

You don’t know a whole lot about Levi’s father. You’ve arranged some lunch and dinner meetings between them, but Levi never requests your attendance in those. On the phone and in person, Mr Dietrich seems normal and pleasant, charismatic even. He has a charming smile and eye for details, he always makes sure to compliment you on something whenever you see him.

But, it’s easy to decipher there has always been a certain amount of tension between Levi and his father. There’s the fact that Levi was majorly brought up by his uncle, Kenny Ackerman, and the fact that Levi voluntarily bears his mother’s last name. His mother, you’ve never seen or heard of, and you’ve quietly concluded that she’s probably deceased.

Not that Levi’s family situation is of any concern to you. It’s just rather obvious that Levi and his father are not in best of terms right now, and that Mr Dietrich’s desire to have his son marry is the reason for that.

You can sort of understand him. The Chairman is nearing his mid-thirties, he’s the prime age for marriage. And it’s not for the lack of hopeful bachelorettes, either. During parties and dinners, you see heiresses throw pining looks at him. Hell, you sometimes even hear the employees chatter about how handsome he is.

You suppose it’s true, kind of. Despite his short stature, he always looks sharp and domineering, his dark eyes have a certain piercing quality to them, his voice is calm and pleasant, he's fit and exercises regularly. He’s wealthy and powerful, and you don’t doubt at least a few beautiful socialites fantasize about Levi pinning them down and bullying them mercilessly.

You suppose you understand where that attraction comes from if you’re into that sort of thing. You, however, are by the Chairman’s side almost every day, and the scales have long since fallen from your eyes. You struggle with seeing him as anything other than a grumpy and fussy old man who’s much too obsessed with cleaning and order.

You surmise anyone who’d come to date Levi would quickly be disillusioned. Not that you could ever see that happening, the Chairman seems to have no interest in women. Or people in general. Sometimes, you hear people gossip, wondering if Levi’s gay. Whatever he is, he’s not interested in going out with anyone by the looks of it.

His father seems to not agree with this. Since yesterday, he has called you numerous times and asked you to put him through to Levi. You’ve refused each time, and after the third time, you stopped informing the Chairman about it.

You could just be imagining it, but to you, it seems Levi is tenser than usual. Since yesterday, he’s spent a lot of time staring out of his office window. He’s asked you for a couple of extra cups of tea aside from his usual morning, afternoon and evening tea. He glares at things more than usual, up until recently you didn’t know such a thing was even possible.

You glance at Levi, who’s walking next to you. He’s dressed sharp as usual, his black suit is impeccably cleaned and ironed. His dark hair is neatly combed down his head. His grey tie is-

Slightly out of place, actually.

You blink. This is the first time you ever recall the Chairman making such a careless mistake with his appearance, aside from the one time he came to work with a 38-degree fever and forgot to cuff his shirt.

He notices your long look, your mouth a little ajar in near disbelief.

“What?” he asks sharply and stops. You look over him, everything else is perfectly in place as usual. He must have loosened his tie during afternoon tea and then been careless with re-adjusting it.

You know that if you point it out now, he’ll demand you take a detour to the bathroom so he can fix it, and you don’t feel like walking down this vertigo-inducing corridor a second time.

You sigh and walk up to him. You hook the folder you have in your hands under your elbow and reach for him.

His eyes widen and he leans back a little, looking wary, but he allows you to touch him without kicking up a bigger fuss.

You fasten the tie back in place.

“It was a little misaligned.”

Levi blinks, taken aback. Whether it’s at the fact you touched him so casually when he absolutely detests physical contact and would probably snap your head off were you not his closest and most trusted employee, or at the fact that he was careless enough to leave his tie loose like that, you don’t know. And you don’t really care to find out, either.

“I see,” he finally says and resumes walking. You expect him to tell you off for touching him, maybe order you to merely let him know if his tie is out of place in the future, not take it upon yourself to fix it. But he doesn’t.

As you walk into the sparse, dimly lit restaurant, Levi stays behind while you deal with the receptionist. You’re guided to a privately situated corner table, right next to the glass wall. Below, you can hardly see the street or passing cars, you’re too far up. Of course, you had to be seated right in front of the spectacular view.

The waitress takes your jacket and pulls the chair back for both you and Levi. The man waiting at the table gets up politely and shakes both your and Levi’s hands.

“Levi, a pleasure to see you after such a long time.” He turns to you. “And Assistant Reader, as breath-taking as always.”

“Sir,” you greet and sit down. Erwin Smith, the CEO of IntelAcc, a software firm that mostly focuses on creating accounting software for businesses. Lately, IntelAcc and Ackerman Corp. have been in talks about cooperating and creating software that exclusively provides accounting services for banks. With the increased focus on cybersecurity, having Ackerman Corp. on board to make the software as secure as possible would greatly improve IntelAcc’s chances of selling their software to important clients.

Plus, Levi and Mr Smith go way back. They went to the same university and attended the same program. Mr Smith is one of the only people you would categorise as Levi’s _friends_ , aside from maybe Mike Zacharias and Hange Zoë.

Erwin Smith is a pleasant enough man. He’s tall and handsome, with conservatively cut fair hair, large, blue eyes and fashion taste just as expensive and proper as Levi’s.

He’s always been pleasant to you, and he periodically sends you invites to attend extravagant parties with him. Probably out of courtesy, as he knows you’re still very much a novice in the world of socialites and business meetings. You graduated not six years ago, you’re from a lower middle-class family. He seems like the kind of man who would want to help you learn how to navigate this world.

You’ve politely turned down the invitations. You can manage on your own, you have a good eye for detail, you have zero issues with attending business meetings and parties with the Chairman. And, you don’t want rumours to start circulating, of Erwin Smith taking Levi Ackerman’s assistant out.

The waitress brings you starters with some red wine.

“How have you been lately?” Erwin asks. He twirls the wine in his glass a few times and then takes a small sip. It’s clearly to his liking, as he lets out a satisfied exhale.

“As usual,” Levi answers curtly. “How’s your divorce going?” The question is blunt and was this anyone but Erwin Smith, you’d anticipate some offence taken. Erwin, however, merely chuckles.

“Finalised two weeks ago. I’m glad that’s over and done with.”

As far as you know, Erwin and his wife have been separated for years, but they got caught in the middle of a very ruthless financial disagreement.

“That’s what you get for getting involved with someone like Martha,” Levi snorts. “I warned you she’d be like a leech once she got tired of you.”

“That you did,” Erwin smiles. “I think my next wife should be someone a little humbler.”

“Either way,” Levi disregards, clearly not overtly interested in Erwin’s taste in women, “I had Zoë’s team go through the requirement analysis and highlight potential problem areas.”

Levi extends his hand towards you. You open the folder you brought with you and take out the analysis. Levi grabs it without a word and engages in a detailed conversation about technical details you can’t quite follow.

You sip on your wine and look around, trying to ignore the view from the window. You look over the tables, some consisting of couples in the middle of an intimate conversation, some of business partners discussing deals, much like Levi and Erwin are now. You look over the live band and focus on their music for a bit.

The small band, consisting of a drummer, bassist, saxophonist, pianist and trumpeter, is playing some relaxed chamber jazz. You smile a bit. You always liked jazz.

The waitress comes to you with the main course. Erwin and Levi are deep in their discussion, and Levi only addresses you by impatiently holding out his hand when he wants you to delve out a certain paper from the folder and give it to him.

The evening is nearing its end, the clock is almost nine and the sky is slowly turning deep orange. Levi and Erwin are closing in on the end of their meeting.

“This seems viable,” Erwin nods at the pile of papers in his hands, which is detailing the plan from Levi’s side of things. “I’ll give these to my technical manager. Do you have an initial schedule for when the patches from your team could be implemented?”

Levi holds out his hand without a word. You open the folder and take out the schedule. Mike Zacharias made it this morning, and Levi looked over it and signed it before handing it to you.

You’re just about to hand the paper to Levi when something catches your interest. You frown just a bit and let your eyes slide over the schedule. It’s otherwise impeccable, but one of the dates is almost three months earlier than you would assume, given your rather limited knowledge of software development. If this date turned out to be wrong and no one noticed, it could create a lot of problems to the development team.

Usually, you’d let it slide. You know the Chairman is very thorough and would normally never let that kind of mistake through. But he’s been distracted since yesterday.

You know talking back to him and questioning his work, in front of a business partner no less, is a very risky move. Ultimately, you’re not expected to look over the papers and if this is a mistake, you will not be held responsible for it to any extent.

Despite that, you trust your judgment on this.

“Assistant Reader. The paper,” Levi’s voice cuts in. You look up and hand him the paper. Though, you purposefully lean in and nudge him just a bit. You discreetly point at the date you think is off.

Levi frowns, he’s just about to give you an irritated look when his eyes cross the date. He pauses and thinks it over.

“This date is wrong,” he says out loud. Erwin draws up an eyebrow. He noticed it was you who subtly pointed it out, and his eyes slide from Levi to you.

“Ah, the joy of a sharp assistant,” he hums and takes out a ballpoint pen from his chest pocket. He hands it to you with a well-meaning twinkle in his eyes. “As expected of you, Assistant Reader.”

Levi grabs the pen from you and fixes the date with clear, perfectly symmetrical handwriting. He then slides the paper and pen to Erwin.

“Excellent. I believe this concludes our meeting,” Erwin smiles and looks over the paper. You glance at Levi. You can see he’s a little irritated by the fact his perfectly structured and printed document now has something as crude as a smudged date and handwritten correction on it. Normally, he’d make you fix the mistake on a computer and print a new copy.

Erwin insists on paying, and when the waitress comes back with the receipt, you get up. You reach for your jacket, but Erwin is ahead of you. He politely helps it on you and gives you a charming smile.

It’s already dark outside as you walk out of the restaurant to the glass corridor. You take the elevator down to ground level. Levi and Erwin shake hands, and Levi starts making his way to your car that’s parked a bit further away from the entrance.

Erwin gives you a handshake.

“Pleasure as always, Ms Reader,” he says warmly. You nod and give him a polite smile.

“Likewise, sir.”

“You know, my invitation to the EFE fundraising party still stands. You’ve never been to a charity event, right? You could gain valuable experience.”

Right, the annual charity event that’s due in three weeks. It’s arranged by Engineers For Equality, a non-profit organisation that cooperates with several IT companies, including Ackerman Corp. and IntelAcc, and organizes their charity efforts.

It’s mostly just for PR and tax exemptions. Levi deems such parties a waste of time and effort. Thus, he just makes a generous donation and doesn’t show up. To be honest, you already forgot Erwin sent you an e-mail inviting you to accompany him a couple of weeks back. You declined politely and gave a generic excuse, as you always do.

You open your mouth to politely reject him again.

“Assistant,” Levi calls to you impatiently from the car. You give Erwin a brief smile.

“I must be going. Goodnight, Mr Smith.”

With that, you turn and walk away. You already turned him down once, so it should be okay.

He watches after you as you hurry to the car and unlock it. He then chuckles to himself and hops inside the car waiting for him at the entrance.

“What was that about?” Levi asks as you open the door for him. You climb to the driver’s seat. Despite only having a glass of wine, you blow into the breathalyser that you keep in your glovebox to make sure you’re good to drive.

You start the car without answering the question. You doubt Levi actually cares, he’s just mad you kept him waiting for a precious fifteen seconds.

You drive by the nocturnal streets. There are few cars on the move and you don’t get stuck in many traffic lights at all.

“Didn’t you hear me? I asked what that was about,” Levi repeats after a minute of silence. You shrug. What Erwin suggests you do in your spare time is hardly any of Levi’s business. You don’t even entertain the thought of telling him Erwin wishes for you to accompany him to a party.

“He just wished me goodnight, sir.”

Levi clicks his tongue and stares grumpily out of the window.

“Don’t keep me waiting next time.”

“I’ll make sure to tell Mr Smith to hasten his goodwill in the future,” you reply coolly. He glances at you through the rear-view mirror but doesn’t speak up the rest of the way.

As you pull up in front of his apartment complex, he pauses when he’s halfway out of the car.

“Good job,” he grunts after contemplating for a while. “With the document.”

He slams the door shut and marches inside. You scratch your head, a little confused. It’s the first time the Chairman has ever explicitly complimented you for your performance. Usually, his approval comes in the form of _not complaining vocally_.

Well, you’ll take it, you suppose. As you start driving back home, you stop by a fast food restaurant just for the joy of eating a Sundae in your car on your way back. Both Erwin’s invitation and Levi’s compliment are quickly pushed to the back of your mind.

-

The rest of the week goes by uneventful. Meetings with teams, an endless influx of e-mails, weaselling out of irate phone calls from Levi’s father, late nights, early mornings. It’s the usual.

Except for…

“Sir, you could just hire another driver,” you suggest as Levi climbs to the backseat of your car.

It’s early Friday morning. You had to get up even earlier than usual today in order to have your car dry cleaned and washed. The Chairman made a comment yesterday about how it was getting too dirty.

“Yes, Assistant, you have brought up that point multiple times this week.” Levi tuts and slams the door shut. “I am currently in the process of browsing applicants.”

You curve out to the road and start making your way towards the office.

This is quite odd. Normally, Levi would have hired a new driver by now. You doubt he enjoys the rides in your car any more than you do.

“Is working as my driver’s substitute a problem for you?” he asks as you stop at the traffic light.

“I believe I am contractually obligated to say no.”

“I don’t care what your contract says, I’m asking _you_.”

You think it over, saying _yes_ is an obvious hazard to your long-term employment prosperity, but you’ve worked with the Chairman long enough to generally know what you can get away with.

“It is a problem,” you state carefully. Levi glances at you through the rear-view mirror.

“Why?”

“I like having my morning coffee while driving to work.”

“Morning coffee,” he muses out loud. “Why don’t you drink it at home?”

“I like the brew they have in a coffee shop near my house,” you explain.

“What brew?”

“I don’t know its name, sir,” you reply with a shrug. He thinks it over.

“How long does it take you to consume a cup of coffee?” You glance at him and blink.

“A short while.”

“What is a _short while_ , Assistant? My short while is ten seconds, Hange Zoë’s is three full days. Be more specific.” His irritated eyes flicker to you from the window. You can hardly keep yourself from rolling your eyes. Maybe you wouldn’t mind working overtime as the Chairman’s driver if he wasn’t so rude.

“I haven’t timed myself drinking a cup of coffee, _sir_ , but approximately eleven minutes and twenty-three seconds.”

This time, he catches you talking back to him loud and clear, but instead of knocking you down a peg and reminding you of your place, his tone is now laced with a hue of amusement.

“Very well. From tomorrow onwards, I expect you to pick me up eleven minutes and twenty-three seconds later than usual. Feel free to use that time to stop by that coffee shop of yours.”

A baffled silence falls between you. This was certainly unexpected.

“Sir… Are you being _considerate_ of me?” you ask like he’s lost his mind completely.

“Evidently.”

“Why?” you blurt before you can help it.

Levi glances at you.

“You may consider your morning coffee a paid break. And use the company credit card to pay for it.”

You gape openly and only when the car behind you honks angrily do you realise the lights have changed.

“Why?” you ask again, this time a little more composed.

“Because,” Levi replies impatiently. “Don’t ask unnecessary questions.”

Levi’s father must really be getting to him, you muse as you make your way towards the office. He’s been acting up all week. Nonetheless, you leave it be. You’re not at all opposed to an additional paid break.

You walk inside the office. Levi takes his customary look-around to assess the cleanliness and then sits down at his desk.

“Quince Black,” he orders. You walk outside without a word to get Levi his tea ready. On your way to the break room, you hear Intern Arlert enthusiastically discuss something with Hange Zoë in her office. Those two seem to be getting along great. You wonder what it’s like to have a nice, casual relationship with your boss.

You wave nonchalantly at Historia Reiss of Human Resources as she walks past you in the corridor.

You’re not going to lie, you’re a little happy about the additional break. You’ve been missing the coffee at Konrad’s. It’s a small, atmospheric shop with an excellent house blend and good playlists. The owner, like yourself, enjoys instrumental jazz, especially Dixieland. Sometimes during weekends, you go there for brunch just to sit down, have a breather and take in the relaxed atmosphere.

You smile to yourself a little as you prepare the quince-flavoured black tea. You walk back a dozen minutes later with a steaming hot teapot and pour Levi a cup.

As you step outside and saunter to your desk, you hope today will be uneventful. You hope Levi’s father doesn’t call too many times. It’s hard to tell with the Chairman if he’s upset since he’s always calm and looks grumpy, but something’s definitely up with him and his father.

Maybe he truly is contemplating getting married. You let out a scatter-brained noise. If that’s the case, you hope it’s quick so you can get Levi’s father off your back.

Just as you finish that thought, the door to the reception area is yanked open and in marches a very tired-looking older man. His brown hair is cut almost to a buzzcut length. His beard and moustache are rather long but neatly trimmed, with grey hairs here and there.

He pokes his square-shaped glasses up his prominent nose and turns his eyes to you. He straightens the neck of his white shirt. He’s wearing a simple pair of brand jeans with an expensive leather belt. On his feet, there is a pair of extravagant leather shoes.

He walks to you and places both palms on your desk.

Well, there goes your peaceful morning and hopes of drinking some coffee in peace while going through your e-mail.

“Mr Dietrich,” you greet politely.

“Ms Reader,” he says, his voice pleasant but clearly urgent. “I’m here to see my son.”

You could groan. You’d rather not deal with this, but the Chairman’s orders are straightforward: he doesn’t want to see his father.

“The Chairman is indisposed,” you explain. “I can leave a message if you’d like.”

Levi’s father sighs and runs his hand through his short hair. He then turns to you with a pleading wince.

“Please. I need to see Levi. This is a family matter.”

You frown a little. He looks distressed. You feel some sympathy towards him, but despite that, you can’t just go against Levi’s orders. Even though you think the extent to which Levi’s giving his father the cold shoulder is a bit much. You get it’s annoying to have marriage pushed upon you, but you don’t think it warrants shutting out his father like this.

But what do you know about Levi’s family circumstances? You’ve only seen this man a handful of times and you don’t as much as know his first name.

“Mr Dietrich, I’m afraid I can’t admit you in. The Chairman has issued very clear instructions-”

“He’s my son, I have the right to see my son!” he argues passionately. You can see he’s getting agitated. Despite this, he remains as calm and non-threatening as possible.

“Please? Can’t you help me? Ms Reader,” he appeals. You shake your head.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.”

Levi’s father sighs, clearly frustrated, and thinks over his options. He then starts marching towards Levi’s door, clearly intending to just storm in.

You instantly pick up the receiver of the phone on your desk and hover your finger over the button that calls security.

“Mr Dietrich, I must warn you, I _will_ call security if you try to forcefully enter my employer’s office.”

He stops and gives you a long, annoyed look. He then steps down, just a little. You place the receiver back down and stand up. You position yourself between Levi’s father and the door to Levi’s office.

You cross your arms sternly. Levi’s father or not, he can’t just do as he pleases.

“Listen here, lady, this is an emergency,” Levi’s father tries to reason. You’re unyielding.

“You can leave a message and I will deliver it, but I cannot admit you in without permission from the Chairman. Do you want me to go and ask him?”

Levi’s father weighs his options carefully. Finally, he nods.

“Tell him his father is here to see him, and that it’s got to do with Kuchel.”

Kuchel? You don’t recall hearing that name before. Nonetheless, you nod and enter Levi’s office.

Levi’s sitting at his desk, typing something on his computer. He glances up.

“What was the commotion?” he asks, having heard you conversing with someone outside his door.

“Mr Dietrich is here,” you inform him. Levi groans and rolls his eyes.

“Figures, that stubborn old man,” he mutters to himself and narrows his eyes at you. “And? I told you not to let him in. Send him off, with security if need be.”

“Sir, he… Said it’s an emergency. That it’s got to do with someone called Kuchel,” you state carefully.

Instantly, Levi’s eyes widen and he gets on his feet. He walks past you to the door and yanks it open, openly disgruntled.

“You sure got some nerve,” he tells his father bluntly. Mr Dietrich crosses his arms and for a second, they stare at each other with cold eyes.

“I guess it was just a matter of time,” Levi seethes through his teeth. He stands aside, admitting his father into his office. Levi’s father walks in and sits down on the couch. Levi goes back to sit at his desk. He turns his chair to face the window, visibly agitated.

“Assistant Reader, get out,” he orders curtly. The tension in the room is so thick you could cut it with a knife. You’re glad you don’t have to stay in here a second longer. Whatever this feud is about, you want part in none of it.

“Sir,” you nod and walk to the door. You exit the office and sit down at your desk with a deep sigh. You resume work, and when Levi’s father leaves half an hour later, he looks much calmer, satisfied even.

“Ah, Ms Reader,” he greets you. “Sorry for my earlier outburst, it was most uncalled for.”

He offers his hand. You take it warily.

“I must be on my way. If you’d excuse me.”

He walks to the door with a jovial smile. When he’s gone, you contemplate whether you want to go anywhere near the Chairman for a while.

You decide against checking on him. It’s none of your business and he’ll call for you if he needs you.

As you work, you can’t help but wonder what that was all about, and why Levi’s father was so happy when he left. What kind of emergency was it?

 _None of your business, Reader,_ you remind yourself. You decide to keep out of it as much as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww look at our grumpy suit daddy trying to be nice to his assistant.
> 
> Yay for another update! I don't know what it is, but lately I've been writing like crazy. After I updated Landlocked, I wrote this chapter the next day in less than 12 hours even though I was committed to having a day off from writing, lol.
> 
> Comments are always very appreciated! I'm kind of excited about the plot I have planned for this story and I'd love to hear from you! :)


	3. Sencha Green

Ever since Mr Dietrich visited the office six days ago, the Chairman has been even more distracted than up until then.

When you pick him up in the mornings, he stares idly out of the window, clearly contemplating something. When you get to the office, he always marches in without acknowledging you in any way. He even forgot to order morning tea from you two days ago, and only after staring at your dumbfounded face for nearly a minute did he realise what made you so confused.

It’s a very weird situation, seeing the Chairman like this. He’s usually on top of things, he remains sharp and focused no matter the situation. But now, something has clearly unsettled him.

You’re not dumb enough to think it has nothing to do with his father. And Kuchel, whoever that is. You don’t recall hearing the name anywhere. You would remember it if the name had come up with the Ackerman Corp. or its employees.

Whatever Levi talked about with his father, it must have satiated him because Mr Dietrich has not called once since. As much as the sudden change in Levi unnerves you, you can be thankful about not being bombarded with phone calls and e-mails any longer.

You’re also unapologetically happy about your extra paid break. You make sure to milk it for all its worth and visit _Konrad’s_ every morning. Having a daily dose of the extra special coffee blend they serve has done wonders to your mood, and you find yourself almost not minding your extra hours as Levi’s driver. Almost.

After another quiet drive towards the Ackerman Corp. office, you ignore the customary dark cloud that’s circulating over the Chairman’s head and the way he barks the order for his morning tea at you without the _please_ and _thank you_. You don’t recall Levi ever asking you courteously, though he’s usually at least a little nicer than this.

Nonetheless, you refuse to let any of that sour your mood as you nod and walk outside. You make your way down the corridor and get to work on the tea in the break room.

“Assistant Reader!”

You look up from where you were idly staring at the electric kettle, waiting for the water to heat up enough. You see Armin Arlert at the doorway, holding something in his hand.

“I thought I told you to just call me Frida,” you point out with a small smile. Ever since he started here at Ackerman Corp. a month back, you’ve been chatting at times. He asks you a lot of questions about the company and its policies. He’s always nice and pleasant. He has a good work ethic and he’s clearly committed to building a career here.

Overall, he seems like a perfectly good kid and honestly, after dealing with the Chairman most of your time, it’s nice to talk to someone who’s normal and friendly.

“I couldn’t possibly,” Armin shakes his head shyly. “You’re my superior.”

“Well, I’m still just an assistant,” you point out, amused. You were never big on the whole authority and influence thing, you’re perfectly happy to be addressed as an equal by most people, even entry-level employees. After all, it was merely an insane stroke of luck that brought you to this floor from where you were at the very bottom of the ladder.

Plus, Armin has very good chances of climbing up and surpassing you quicker than most. Usually, interns work on the lower floors with mid-level or senior employees, not up here with executives. But as it turned out, Armin is a sharp programmer and IT architect. His impeccable coding and unconventional solutions quickly gained the interest of Technical Manager Zoë, who personally appealed to have Armin moved under her supervision.

“You’re the Chairman’s assistant,” Armin corrects you. You sigh and shrug. You’re just a glorified secretary who stands for that old man’s fussy antics because it pays well.

“We’ll agree to disagree, then. What is it you need?” you ask. You take the electric kettle from its dock just before the boiling point, the optimal brewing temperature for the Sencha Green you're making, and pour the water into the teapot. You turn on the kitchen timer.

“I went through the mail today, this was sent to you,” he says. Traditionally, interns go through the mail. They throw away junk mail and then distribute letters to their recipients. You rarely get anything, everything is usually addressed to the Chairman. Which is why you don’t even have a mailbox of your own for your mail. The rare times you get something, they’re delivered to you face to face.

“Me? Not the Chairman?” you ask, a little taken aback. You look at the package with a curious expression. It’s thicker than usual and square, clearly not a letter but a parcel.

“It’s addressed to Frida Reader,” Armin announces. He’s clearly curious about it as well. You take the parcel and grab a knife from one of the drawers. Carefully, you cut at the tapes keeping the carton together at the seams. You open the parcel and pull out a small box along with a letter.

_Ms Reader,_

_Despite already apologising, I must say I’m most ashamed of my conduct last time. Please accept this as a token of my regret. I picked it with full knowledge that it would look good with your usual work attire._

_Looking forward to continuing our amicable relations,  
Sigmund Dietrich_

You read over the letter and tilt your head. An apology, huh?

Personally, you don’t think he went _that_ out of line when he visited your office. Sure, he was agitated, but he wasn’t threatening, forceful or even rude. You receive much harsher treatment daily from the Chairman.

You fold and pocket the letter. You open the small box and your eyebrows shoot up when you see what’s inside.

It’s a small silver bracelet. The thin metal chain is accented by a stylishly crafted, diamond-shaped plate in the middle. The plate is decorated with a black stone in the centre and the edges are lined with curvy, entangling carvings.

You look over the bracelet and you must admit you quite like it. The black stone matches well with your dark pencil skirt and the non-aggressive, slim silver chain is well within the dress code.

You take the bracelet out and contemplate if it’s proper of you to accept it. Then again, it’s silver so it must not have been that expensive. You don’t recognise it being from any kind of high-end brand or collection, either. If this was a platinum bracelet, things would be different, but this seems like a rather genuine and inexpensive gesture of goodwill.

You flinch back from your thoughts when the timer starts ringing on the table. You hurry to place the bracelet on the counter and remove the tea leaves from the pot.

Armin looks over the piece of jewellery curiously, and when you’re done with the tea, he offers you a smile.

“Would you like me to put it on you?” he suggests. You shrug harmlessly. You might as well since Mr Dietrich went through the trouble of sending it to you.

You give Armin your right wrist, and his slim fingers easily open the lock and thread it through the small metal ring to fasten the bracelet in place.

“Thanks,” you hum. You take the teapot and start making your way to the door. You wave your goodbyes at Armin and disappear back to the hallway.

When you enter Levi’s office, you find him sitting by his computer with a bland look on his face. He’s scrolling through documents and gives you not as much as a glance as you pour him his tea.

He grabs the cup and takes a test sip without detaching his eyes from the screen. When you hear him give his normal grunt of approval, signalling the tea is adequate, you turn for the door. You have work to attend to.

You don’t notice how a ray of sunshine makes your bracelet glisten, enough for Levi to notice it from the corner of his eye and turn his gaze to the piece of jewellery around your wrist.

“Hey.”

You turn to give Levi a questioning look. He’s not looking at you. Instead, his eyes are glued to your hands with a dark, unreadable expression.

“Where did you get that?”

You glance down and raise your hand to show him the bracelet, a little taken aback.

“This, sir?”

“Yeah. You didn’t have it this morning.”

“Mr Dietrich sent it to me as an apology for last time,” you reply nonchalantly. Levi’s eyes narrow. He’s clearly not ecstatic about the news. He holds out his hand impatiently.

“Show it here.”

You walk closer, a bit cautiously, and extend your hand to him. You’re just about to try and fumble the piece of jewellery off using your left hand when Levi beats you to it.

You jolt a little, honestly surprised when Levi leans over the desk and gently grabs your wrist, with no inhibitions whatsoever. He tugs at you to step closer to the desk and raises your hand to his eyes in order to take a closer look at the bracelet. You don’t recall him ever touching you but for whatever reason, he deems this gift urgent enough to warrant getting physical.

He looks over the silver chain and lets out a long-suffering sigh.

“I should have known,” he mutters to himself. You stand still, very confused, as the dark cloud above Levi’s head gets even larger before your eyes. Distantly, you note his hand is very soft and well-manicured. He seems like the type to border religious when it comes to frequently using hand lotion.

You see Levi’s mouth purse unhappily and he makes up his mind. With surprisingly nimble fingers, he opens the lock and takes the bracelet off you. Then, without as much as stopping to think it over, he reaches for the small ventilation window behind him, opens it and throws the bracelet out. You watch, mouth agape in utter disbelief, as the silver chain falls from the dizzying height of your floor, down towards the minuscule cars and people below until it disappears from sight.

You know there’s no way you can find the bracelet from the streets even if you run to the elevators now.

Levi turns back to his desk and resumes scrolling through the documents, calm and collected like nothing happened. You stand there, mouth ajar, trying to decide where to even start with this situation. Then, you cross your arms. Levi is expertly ignoring you.

“What did you do that for, sir?” you ask with a frown.

“It violated dress code,” Levi grunts, eyes moving over the text on his laptop.

“It did not,” you argue, as patiently as you can, though you’re clearly annoyed. “I would know, I updated that code not half a year ago.”

“I just decided it does,” Levi announces and tears his eyes from the screen to you. He looks unapologetic, annoyed and like he’s blaming you for something, you just don’t know _what_.

“In that case, you could have just told me to take it off, sir. Mr Dietrich went through the trouble of sending it to me-”

“Do not accept gifts from him in the future,” Levi cuts in, looking dead serious. You give him an incredulous look. This cocky son of a bitch.

“With all due respect, _sir_ , I think I have the right to accept gifts from whomever I please. And you are overstepping your boundaries by discarding my personal property without my explicit permission.”

“Why would you want gifts from that man anyway?” Levi asks coolly. You lean back and shift your weight from one foot to the other. You refuse to back down. More than being upset about losing your bracelet, you’re holding your ground on principle.

“Mr Dietrich has given me no reason to share your hostility towards him,” you remind Levi. “Besides, that was a nice bracelet,” you can’t help but add. You rather liked it.

“If you want a bracelet, I’ll buy you a bracelet. Just don’t accept anything from that guy,” Levi disregards and turns his eyes back to his work. You frown, not ready to accept this.

“Why are you so opposed to that bracelet, sir?”

“No reason. Just stay away from him in the future.”

He looks very unhappy and dead serious. It makes no sense. You stare at his stoic face for a moment longer, until he turns to face you again.

“What?” he blurts. “If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise, get back to work.”

You huff, unimpressed.

“Sir, I will let it slide this time. But the next time you throw my things away like this, I will file a complaint to Ms Reiss.”

Levi gives you a long, unreadable look.

“I already said I’ll buy you a new bracelet. I can make it extra fancy if that’s what you’re on about. So why are you so upset over me throwing away a cheap piece of metal given to you by someone you’re not at all close with?”

You can see from his expression that this is one of the times when he’s not trying to be a prick, he’s genuinely trying to understand. Much like back when he asked you about marriage. Thus, you take a very straightforward approach.

“He sent that bracelet to me as a gift. Whether or not I actually place any value in it is irrelevant. It’s mine, and you violated my rights by throwing it away without as much as asking first. I’m your assistant, but I’m not your property. I have the right to decide what I do with things that are given to me.”

“I don’t think of you as property,” Levi disregards instantly and leans back on his chair. “I just don’t want my employees getting any more involved with that guy than necessary.”

“But why?” you ask, taken aback. Levi closes his mouth and refuses to say a word.

“You hate him that much, sir? Because of the whole marriage thing?”

“He’s playing dirty,” Levi mutters, irked. You don’t know what’s going on with Levi and his father, or the marriage. Frankly, that’s none of your business. But you’re hellbent on holding on to your rights.

“Either way, sir. The next time you dispose of my property without asking me first, I will make sure there are consequences,” you announce and turn to walk off.

“If I had asked you, would you have let me throw it away?” Levi calls after you. You stop at the door and give him a raised eyebrow with the honest answer.

“Of course not. I liked that bracelet."

He crosses his arms, wordlessly telling you you’re proving his point about not asking you.

“Then what would have made you let me discard it?” he asks.

“An explanation would have been a good start, _sir_ ,” you say coolly and stare him down. He snorts and meets your pointed gaze. You engage in a furious staring contest. You’re not about to give in. If Levi wants to throw your stuff away, he can do it like any other person would: by explaining why and then asking if he can. Not by just grabbing you, taking it off your hands and throwing it off the fucking building.

“My father,” Levi starts slowly, “is adamant about getting me married. I would not be surprised if complimenting you and sending you gifts is his way of trying to groom you with the goal of talking you into marrying me. The more you play along by accepting his goodwill, the more he buys into the idea that you’re a good candidate.”

You blink. You were not expecting this. You look into Levi’s eyes and while he looks mostly truthful, you sense something that tells you this is not the full extent of things.

“Your father wants me to marry you?” you ask, deadpan.

“He hasn’t explicitly said so, but given the sudden gift as well as the way he speaks to you and of you, I wouldn’t deem it impossible.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this from the beginning?” you ask and lean against the door, now relaxing a little.

“I want to entertain my father’s delusions of marriage as little as possible, and I try not to get my employees involved,” Levi explains and shifts his eyes. He looks a little awkward. The brief moment of human emotion on his face makes him look surprisingly refreshing, likable even.

“If you just explained it, I would probably have sent the bracelet back with a polite refusal. Now, if I send one without the bracelet, it’ll seem exceptionally rude,” you point out.

“I’ll deal with that,” Levi promises. “Just avoid any and all contact with him.”

You sigh, finally at least somewhat appeased now that you know Levi’s reasoning.

“Fine,” you relent. “But next time, just tell me what’s going on, sir. Makes it easier on all of us.”

“I’ll consider it,” comes Levi’s curt reply. You turn for the door again and roll your eyes when your back is securely turned towards Levi.

-

The following day, you’ve mostly pushed the bracelet and Levi’s father to the back of your mind. Levi’s father wouldn’t be the first one to mistake you and the Chairman’s tolerance for each other in a work environment for romantic chemistry. You just never expected Mr Dietrich of all people to push for a union.

Then again, you shouldn’t be _too_ surprised. Levi has never shown any amount of interest towards women (or anyone for that matter). You’re the closest he’s ever become to a long, stable relationship with the opposite sex and you spend a lot of time with the Chairman. Not of your own volition, but nonetheless.

The Chairman continues to be distracted throughout the day, but to your relief, he treats you as usual. No wrist-grabbing or property-tossing.

That doesn’t mean he’s in any better mood. He almost snaps Armin’s head off when the poor boy thumps into him in the hallway in the morning, but he luckily has the decency to not yell at him but instead give him a nasty glare. You give Armin a sympathetic wince.

You could almost believe things have gone back to normal between you until Levi calls you to his office when you’re just about to wrap things up for the day.

You walk inside just to see Levi sitting on the leather couch that’s situated in the corner, rather than at the desk. Before him on the coffee table, there’s a huge pile of papers. The office is painted deep orange with the ongoing sunset.

“Sit down,” he orders. You obey and take a seat on the armchair adjacent to the couch, a little confused.

“Are you busy tonight, Assistant Reader?” he asks. You narrow your eyes suspiciously.

“Why, sir?”

“I’d like you to spend the evening with me,” Levi announces straightforwardly. You blink, taken aback.

“Spend the evening?” you repeat dully. “What for?” You know what his words sound like and were this anyone else, you would believe the Chairman is asking you out. But this is Levi Ackerman you’re speaking of.

Levi gives you a bland look.

“What else but work?” he asks impatiently and leans over the table just to nudge the huge pile of papers your way.

Ah. As you surmised.

“You want me to stay overtime, sir,” you state rather than ask. He takes out a shiny metal ballpoint pen from the chest pocket of his suit and hands it to you.

“As you may have noticed, I have been rather distracted lately,” he admits with a surprisingly neutral tone. “Dealing with the situation with my father has taken a toll on my concentration. I have checked these papers two to three times each, but I would like you to check them before I authorise submitting them to IntelAcc.”

You look at the documents. They’re mostly stuff regarding the cooperation between IntelAcc and Ackerman Corp. Schedules, plans, design sketches, the like.

“Why me, sir?” you ask, sincerely surprised. Surely someone from the technical team would be better suited for this.

“You caught the error just fine last time. You have good eyes and you know my standards.”

You glance at the clock. Going over these papers will stretch your hours even later than usual. Despite that, you sigh in a resigned manner and grab the first paper from the pile.

Levi stands up and goes back to his desk. You hear him open one of the drawers as your eyes slide over the text in front of you.

“One more thing, Assistant,” Levi calls to you. You look up just in time to see something flying towards you. You flinch and instinctively dodge it with your hand. Your fingers clutch around something and you open your palm to see a small box. It’s made of leather, it's thin and square, and you have a strong hunch you know what’s inside.

You open it carefully, almost apprehensively, and your eyes fly wide open when you see what’s inside. You make a choked sound.

It’s a bracelet alright. But not just any bracelet. It’s silver-coloured, with small stones etched into the metal at steady intervals. One glance at the carving on the backside confirms what you’re suspecting: it’s platinum. And the stones-

“Please don’t tell me these are diamonds,” you moan and hold your head with a cringe.

“You don’t like it?” Levi asks calmly where he’s sitting in his chair, stoically evaluating your reaction. You snap your eyes to him and take a deep breath. Once again you don’t even know where to start unfurling this situation.

“It’s not that I dislike it, sir, but this is a very expensive bracelet.”

“So? You know I can afford it, and I promised to replace the one my father gave you,” Levi shrugs, disengaged.

“I can’t accept this, sir,” you say and close the box. As much as you know it’s the closest you’ll ever get to such extravagant jewellery and feel tempted to gawk at it for a moment longer.

“Why not?” Levi leans back on his chair, clearly unhappy. “You had no issues accepting a gift from my father.”

“Well, his gift was a sign of goodwill and probably didn’t cost more than 50 euros,” you try to explain. “This looks like it cost thousands. It’s not an appropriate gift for an employer to give his employee.”

“Why?” Levi asks bluntly. You think it over, wondering how to explain it in a way that he can understand. Levi’s not the most adept with interpersonal relationships.

“There are already rumours in place about the nature of our relationship,” you start slowly. “Suppose I one day start wearing a platinum diamond bracelet worth more than my month’s salary. I clearly couldn’t afford it and it’s obvious it’s been given to me by you. What do you think will happen to those rumours?”

“Who cares,” Levi disregards easily. “If they think I’m courting you, that’s their problem.”

“Sir, _I_ care,” you answer. “I do not want people to think you’re giving me preferential treatment, or worse even, dating me.”

“Why?”

Levi plucks a small particle of dust from the arm of his crisp suit and gives you an updrawn eyebrow.

“Because they will think I slept my way to where I am now.”

Levi sighs, obviously irritated at your reluctance. His expression turns grumpy.

“Fine,” he retorts with a considerably icier tone. “If you don’t want it, throw it away.”

You could groan. As if you could throw something this valuable away. You watch over his sullen face carefully and wonder how to go about this in a way that doesn’t end in a disaster. Or getting fired.

“Sir, I appreciate the gift. Thank you for going through the trouble of giving me one,” you slowly say with a considerably mellower tone. Levi tilts his head upwards a little and listens without a word.

“But I don’t feel comfortable accepting this. If you want to give me a bracelet, I would appreciate a cheaper one.”

Levi thinks it over and his icy gaze turns just a little bit more approachable.

“So, if I give you a cheap piece of shit bracelet, you’ll accept it?” he asks bluntly. You get up from the couch and take the box. You walk to the desk and place the bracelet down.

“Yes. If you want me to accept a gift from you, I will. But not something this lavish.” You’re saying it mostly to appease him and get away from his situation.

Levi glares at you and the bracelet in turns for a while before grabbing the box from the desk and shoving it back in the drawer.

“Fine,” he clicks his tongue. “If you have shit taste, I’ll get you something that suits it.”

You should maybe feel offended or roll your eyes but instead, you chuckle just a little. He gives you a wary glance.

“What the hell are you laughing at, Assistant?”

“Nothing, sir,” you dismiss and walk back to the couch. You get to work with the papers and ignore the way you can feel the Chairman’s eyes flicker to you every now and then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who ordered a sugar daddy Levi? No one? Don't care, you're getting one anyway! This one also yeets things he doesn't like from the 42nd floor.
> 
> I've been on a roll lately, I've posted a lot of stuff. After finishing the epilogue for The Carnivore and my, erm, _complex_ yandere!Levi one-shot, it was time to get back to OTAHB. I plugged in some instrumental jazz, sketched the storyline a bit and BAM, five hours later I have an update. Don't you just love it when you barf out 9 pages of text in one sitting?
> 
> Yay for updates, yay for the supportive comments I've received for this fic. They really mean the world to me so if you have a moment, please consider leaving a comment. Every little bit helps with motivating and encouraging me!


	4. Chai Green

When you get in your car the following Monday, prepared to go and pick up the Chairman as usual, you get a phone call from Mike Zacharias. He informs you that Levi has finally picked a driver he _‘can tolerate’_ and that you no longer need to work as his driver.

Mike Zacharias also mentions that the Chairman specifically told him to tell you that you can continue enjoying your paid coffee breaks if you so desire. You’re pleasantly surprised by the gesture, but turn down the offer nonetheless. Now that the Chairman is no longer there to glare daggers at you, you can enjoy your morning coffee on the way to work as usual.

When you get to the office, it feels a bit foreign to arrive before Levi. During the last couple of weeks, you got rather used to coming in and leaving with him.

When Levi fifteen minutes later pushes the door open to the reception area where your desk is situated, he pauses and gives you one, brief look before pushing his hand into his pocket. He chucks a box on your desk as he passes by and marches into his office.

“Chai Green,” he orders before slamming the door shut.

You open the box just to confirm your suspicions; it’s another bracelet. Levi obviously adhered to your rules since this one is neither platinum nor covered in diamonds. It’s silver, with a small, round amethyst in the middle. It doesn’t look expensive and you must say, the stylish carvings along the chain as well as the simple purple stone look rather spiffy.

You also notice that the purple matches well with the stud earrings you usually wear for work that are of similar colour. Did he choose this knowing that?

You slip the bracelet on, mostly to avoid Levi’s dissatisfied questioning that would inevitably follow if you didn’t. You then walk to the break room to prepare the tea.

When you walk back to the office with the tea, you see Levi give your decorated wrist a glance as you pour him a cup. He doesn’t comment on it, however, and he appears to be busy with whomever he’s discussing with on the phone.

“I’ve tried, but she doesn’t want to talk to me,” he grunts into the phone. “I’m running out of time, he-”

Levi frowns as he listens to whatever the person on the other end is saying.

“Well, you know what he’s like, he’ll just keep pushing until I agree,” he mutters darkly and twirls his chair around to look out of the window.

“I won’t,” he snaps and turns back around, agitated. “Besides, there’s no one who I-”

He pauses again. His eyes slowly slide to you just as you’re about to exit the office.

“Well, there’s one who’s not as annoying- No, I already told you I’m not going to- I’ll figure out something else. You listen to me shitty old man, you should try to look after her as well, she’s your-!”

You close the office door after yourself, shutting out the rest of that conversation. It’s probably Levi’s father again and you want none of it.

When you enter Levi’s office a few hours later to get him to sign some documents, he looks very thoughtful, rather than pissed as you would expect.

You can’t help but notice he stares at the bracelet on your wrist again as you pour him his afternoon tea.

-

It’s fairly uneventful for a couple of days and you could almost believe that the Chairman has gone back to normal. He hasn’t fired his driver already, which is a good sign. Maybe this time he’ll keep the same one for longer than a few months, considering that he fires approximately 75% of his drivers within the first two days.

The evening has fallen. You left the office early for a change, leaving the Chairman to work overtime alone, and you’re currently sitting on the couch in your leisure clothes. You enjoy the freedom of movement that having a pair of jerseys and a loose T-shirt on you gives you, as opposed to the pencil skirt you wear to work, and you’re all sorts of creatively splayed on the couch.

You have a glass of wine in one hand. It’s a cheap, boxed variety. The kind that would make Levi scrunch up his nose and insult your taste. Your eyes are glued to the TV. You’re watching a game show and periodically scoff at the lack of common sense the contestant displays.

It’s every bit the kind of idle, meaningless night off you’ve been longing for like mad.

When your phone buzzes on the coffee table, you take almost a full minute to gather the energy to reach for it. You turn the screen on, and instantly your eyebrows shoot up on your forehead.

_Are you busy right now, Assistant?_

You stare at the text for a moment. It’s unheard of for Levi to text you. He has your number, but he only uses it to call you and even that is something that doesn’t happen more than a handful of times a year.

Apparently, you take too long to reply, because your phone buzzes again.

_I’m waiting, Assistant. Stop wasting my time and answer._

Immediately, your astonishment turns to annoyance. You are not obligated to pick up your phone during off-hours, even if the blue checkmarks next to his message conveyed to him that you’ve read it.

_Why? It’s off-hours, sir._

_I need a favour._

Well, that doesn’t say a whole lot does it? You eye the phone suspiciously. You see three dots appear underneath the latest message, signalling that Levi’s typing. You wait and take a sip of your wine just to choke on it seconds later when an animated sticker of a dancing, spandex-wearing whale appears on the screen.

 _Ignore that,_ comes Levi’s order. As if you could do that.

His finger must have slipped. That’s the kind of mistake you’d expect your father to make. Not a relatively young and stylish billionaire. You get a sudden, strong mental image of Levi, typing using only a single index finger with a concentrated frown on his face. It’s disturbingly easy to picture.

_I believe I am contractually obligated to tell you that I took a screenshot of that and will store it away for future use, sir._

_What use?_

_Nothing, for now. Just in case._

_Are you threatening me, Assistant?_

You chuckle.

 _I wouldn’t dare, sir. Just a needed reminder that despite everything, you’re still human and make human mistakes_ , you inform him.

 _What else would I be if not human?_ He asks, and you can almost hear his snappy, pointed tone. You hum and decide not to continue down this path. Despite everything, you’re still his subordinate and he’s your boss. Calling him a robot would hardly go down well.

_What did you need from me?_

_I’m looking over the papers for the meeting tomorrow morning with Erwin Smith’s technical team. I want you to look over them as well._

Levi’s still worried about how distracted he’s been. He has given you the off paper to review every now and then during the last few days. This, however, marks the first time he’s approached you off the clock like this.

You think it over. The meeting is the first thing tomorrow morning, it probably starts before you even arrive at work. It’s going to be Hange Zoë’s team with IntelAcc’s senior technical manager and some of his subordinates. Mistakes on the papers would reflect badly on Ackerman Corporation’s image, especially if the papers came from Levi himself. You understand why he wants a second set of eyes checking them.

But despite that…

 _Sir, I’m off the clock and furthermore, I’m busy,_ you enlighten him.

_Busy doing what?_

You glance at the game show and think it over. You could lie, but then again, what you do in your free time is nothing that’s appropriate for Levi to scrutinise.

_Watching ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’._

_You can do that anytime._

Another sticker, this time of a disturbing-looking, smiling octopus that’s been animated to wink. You wonder if Levi’s accidentally downloaded a marine-themed sticker pack.

 _Ignore that._ _And disable these things on my phone first thing tomorrow morning. I keep sending these by accident._

You quietly imagine Levi accidentally sending these stickers to his business partners and consider talking him into disabling his messaging apps altogether on his work phone.

_I’m off the clock now. I can come in early tomorrow to review the papers if you’re that adamant about having me do it._

Levi’s quiet for a while, contemplating.

 _How much do you want to do it now?_ He finally asks. You roll your eyes. Figures, he’d try to bribe you.

 _With all due respect, sir, I value my free time much more than any financial compensation you could give me to check your papers for you at 10 p.m._ Your reply is just a tad on the sassy side, and Levi must have picked up on that.

_Is that your way of saying I’m overstepping my boundaries again?_

You sense that he’s asking sincerely, not as your employer. He wants an honest answer.

_A little bit, sir._

_Very well. In that case, come in tomorrow morning and review the papers before the meeting if at all possible._

You blink at the message. You see Levi exit the app, the green dot next to his name disappears. He’s obviously content with leaving it at that and respecting the fact that you refused.

“What the hell?” you mutter to yourself. Since when has the Chairman cared about overstepping his boundaries with you? Since when has he been considerate enough to leave you be and enjoy your night off when he has work that needs attending to?

You hum thoughtfully and pocket your phone. You then turn your attention back to the TV and try to get as invested in the fool on the screen futilely trying to achieve riches as you were a moment before. Unfortunately, Levi’s borderline polite retreat is circling around in your mind. After a dozen minutes, you blow a resigned raspberry.

You blame it on the wine and delve out the phone to dial the Chairman’s number.

He answers after just a couple of rings.

“What?”

It’s a blunt but relatively well-meaning greeting, you decipher from his tone. You stay quiet for a couple of seconds and then sigh.

“Fine. But don’t count on me doing this again, sir,” you cave in.

You can hear the sound of the keyboard, Levi’s probably on his laptop. A dozen seconds later, he speaks up.

“I sent the document to your e-mail.”

You groan and sit up a little to grab your laptop bag from where it’s dumped on the floor a few feet from the couch. You expect Levi to hang up, but he doesn’t. You open your laptop and balance it on your knees.

“Alright. I’ll look over it,” you tell Levi, but he merely makes a grunt to acknowledge it. You frown.

“Sir? Are you going to stay on call while I go through it?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Well, no,” you admit and shrug. You suppose it’s easier to correct mistakes if you instantly point them out to him as you read through, even if it’s a little uncomfortable to listen to the sound of the quiet telephone line as you work.

“Page 5, the indentation is a couple of pixels too wide, just on the second row,” you say after a moment of silence. It would bother no one except Levi, but you know he would chew you out for it if you didn’t point it out and he noticed it later.

You hear a couple of clicks from what you assume is Levi’s mouse.

“Okay. Anything else?”

You browse through the rest of the document in silence.

“No, nothing that catches my eye, sir.”

“Alright. That’s all, Assistant.”

You hum and yawn a little. Well, luckily that took less time than anticipated.

“I see. In that case-”

“Well, actually. One more thing,” Levi interrupts. “About the business trip I have coming up in a month.”

“What about it, sir?”

The Chairman is going to travel to Philadelphia for some industry convention he cannot miss without jeopardising business relations.

“I want you to come with me,” he says in what you interpret to be a neutral, even a tad friendly way.

You’re taken aback. Usually, the Chairman doesn’t take you along for the simple reason he doesn’t need to. Normally, either Hange Zoë or Mike Zacharias go with him and handle things.

“But why?”

“You don’t want to go to the U.S.? You’ve never been, right?”

“Well, no, sir, but-”

“Then you should tag along. It’ll be a valuable experience. You’ll need to learn how to navigate those redundant parties eventually.”

That makes you narrow your eyes a little.

“Are you copying Erwin Smith?” you ask before you realise what you’ve said. You snap your mouth shut abruptly. The Chairman doesn’t know about the invitations and you’ve semi-deliberately kept it from him.

“What does that mean, Assistant?” Levi asks, sounding awfully suspicious.

“Well, he’s very into taking female companions to extravagant parties by the looks of it,” you answer vaguely. Levi stays quiet for a moment.

“I suppose,” he finally grunts. “So, you coming or not?”

“If it’s an order from my employer,” you answer truthfully. You’re a little bit excited about the thought of travelling overseas but you know it won’t be a holiday. Just a few days of business dinners, meetings, knock-off Ted Talks about uninspiring innovations and tours around boring venues.

“In that case, it is,” Levi says cryptically. You roll your eyes a little. Of course, it is.

“Alright then, sir. I’ll write it down in my calendar.”

“Good.”

“If that’s all, I’ll hang up now. Goodnight, Mr Ackerman.”

“Goodnight, Assistant.”

You gape a little as Levi cuts the call. It’s the first time he’s ever given you a greeting of any kind.

Something’s really gotten into him, you muse, and it takes you longer than usual to shrug him from your mind and turn your attention back to the TV.

-

The next day, you slip on the silver bracelet without giving it much thought. It accentuates your outfit nicely, so why not wear it?

You grab a cup of coffee from _Konrad’s_ and enjoy the morning radio show on your way to work. You’re glad you don’t have to pick up the Chairman any longer. It means you can sleep a bit later, you don’t have to keep getting your car dry-cleaned and you can eat and drink all you want while you drive.

Just to celebrate that, you buy a doughnut with your coffee and take large, unapologetic bites every time you stop at a traffic light.

When the elevators open at the top floor of the Ackerman Corp. office building, you see Armin walking towards the conference room with a coffee pot in one hand and a teapot in another.

“Morning, Armin,” you smile. Armin stops briefly to give you a wide smile.

“Good morning, Assistant Reader!”

“How many times do I have to ask you to call me Frida?” You give him a well-meaning huff. He shrugs sheepishly. You notice his eyes pause on the bracelet, clearly recognising that it’s not the one he saw you receive the other day, but before he can ask, you wave your goodbyes at him and start walking down the corridor.

You don’t feel like telling Armin the story of how Mr Dietrich wants you to marry the Chairman, or how Levi retaliated by tossing the bracelet off the building and buying you a new one.

The morning goes by uneventful. You make Levi his tea and ignore the way his eyes pause on the bracelet and flash a bit with something resembling satisfaction. You browse through your e-mail with a cup of coffee and it’s not until it’s nearing lunchtime that something even remotely noteworthy happens.

You get an e-mail asking for the Chairman’s response to an invitation to the EFE fundraising event. The same party Mr Smith invited you to a few weeks back.

You recall relaying the invite to Levi when it was first sent to you. He probably ignored it.

You dig out the invitation from the impressive depths of your archived e-mails and print it out. As you do, something catches your eye as you glance through it.

 _The Van Schagen Brothers_ are performing at the venue.

They’re a local, small and relatively unknown Motown jazz band whose music you first heard at _Konrad’s_ a bit over a year back. You liked it enough to ask the shopkeeper the name of the artist and ever since then, it’s been a permanent member of your jazz-themed playlists.

It would be nice to see them live. You know you’re not allowed to go to the EFE party on your own, the invitation only extends to the Chairman and a plus-one.

You sigh and fold the paper before knocking on the office door. You hear Levi grunt you an order to enter.

You walk to the desk.

“Sir, Engineers For Equality is asking about your attendance to the fundraising party.”

You offer Levi the paper, but he doesn’t as much as look up from the document he’s currently reading over while tapping at the desk idly with the tip of his ballpoint pen.

“Decline,” he orders curtly.

You anticipated as much. You sigh a little and look longingly over the paper. If the Chairman decided to go, you could go with him as his assistant and see _The Van Schagen Brothers_.

“The band they’ve hired for the evening is very nice. I like them a lot,” you say with just a touch of suggestiveness. Maybe Levi will bite and take you since he’s been so considerate lately?

“Is that so?”

His voice is blatantly uninterested. His eyes don’t leave the paper he’s hunched over.

“It sure would be nice to see that band live, sir,” you press just a little more. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?”

Levi tears his eyes from the document and blinks at you. You can see the creases forming between his eyebrows, telling you he’s a little annoyed you’re pestering him when he’s trying to focus.

“Why would I want to go to that stupid organisation’s tasteless party, where snobs gather to pat each other's backs for donating the bare minimum they can without getting bad press?” he asks you straightforwardly. You shrug meekly. It was worth a shot.

Obviously, Levi still has a ways to go when it comes to picking up social cues. And you’re not going to straight-up ask him to take you to the party. It would be unprofessional conduct.

“Fine. I’ll send them an e-mail to decline,” you hum. Levi turns back to his work, done acknowledging you. You walk off and sit back down at your desk.

Oh well.

You briefly entertain the thought of taking Mr Smith up on his offer but decide against it. You can just look up where _The Van Schagen Brothers_ are going to perform in the near future and go to one of their regular gigs. It’s not like they’re hard to get tickets for.

You lean back on your chair and blow away a strand of hair that’s fallen over your forehead.

If the Chairman ever decides to get married, he’ll have one hell of a time trying to court the candidate. Obviously, he could just marry any gold digger, but something tells you he’s pickier than that. And his money and looks are about the only things he has going for him. His interpersonal capabilities and personality leave a bit to be desired. Finding a candidate who likes the Chairman for what he is would be very challenging.

Well, it’s not like he wants to marry, you conclude. And it’s none of your business anyway.

You find yourself glancing at the bracelet on your wrist. You shake your head, click your tongue and get back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time, we have Levi texting like an old man and yes, he also proposed they go abroad together. Now, whether Levi just wants his handy assistant with him or if he has... Ulterior motives... Remains to be seen. More on that in future chapters!
> 
> How do you dig this story so far? I decided to try a little bit of a slower pace with the romance compared to my other fics. They're making progress though!
> 
> Also: I have a [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SquibblesMcGoo), feel free to follow me. I have a few readers tweeting at me and sending me DMs and stuff about my stories - or just to talk in general about life and stuff - and that's awesome and nice, feel free to use it if you want to talk to me more privately! Or if you want to follow me for memes and shitposting.
> 
> Hearing from you guys keeps me going, it makes me motivated and reminds me that yes, what I do matters and that I can make people happy with these silly stories of mine even when I feel like the lousiest writer alive. So, if you have a spare moment, please consider writing a comment, anything at all! Just "hi" or "thanks" or "I read this" is plenty, and I love chatting with my readers!


	5. Honey Chamomile

When you wake up, you’re drenched in sweat. You look at the alarm clock in a haze, and a disappointed sigh leaves your mouth when you realise it’s hardly ten minutes before your alarm is due to go off.

You sit up and turn the alarm off. You don’t feel like lying in bed and snoozing while tensely waiting for the moment the clock on your bedside table will start its obnoxious ruckus.

“Alexa,” you mutter. “Turn on the lights and play Playlist 7.”

As the ceiling lamp flickers to life, you see botches of sweat on your sheets. You sigh, resigned, and the swing music blasting through the speakers hardly improves your mood.

You tear the sheets off and dump them in the laundry basket. You don’t bother with putting in new ones now. You’ll worry about that in the evening.

You walk around your small studio apartment, past the two-seated leather couch, the wide LCD TV, the small dining table, and yank the curtains aside. This morning, the brief stab of vertigo hits you harder than usual.

You thought you’d little by little get over your strong distaste of heights if you just lived in a high floor for some time. Certainly, you’ve gotten to the point of not going weak in the legs anymore after living here for a time and working for the Chairman in the top floor, but you’re still nowhere near being alright with heights.

A hasty breakfast of some orange juice with leftover fruit salad before you hop in the shower. You do your usual washing and grooming routine, and 40 minutes later you’re looking sharp. At this point, slipping on the bracelet along with your earrings is a habit.

You turn off the music and lights before stepping outside.

Fifteen minutes later, you’re driving towards the office with a large latte. The radio is playing some relaxed lo-fi jazz.

You remind yourself to check the schedule of The Van Schagen Brothers today and buy a ticket to one of their concerts. Since the Chairman didn’t seem enthusiastic about attending the EFE fundraising party.

A part of you feels proud of Levi for having the balls to decline outing after another and categorically refuse to attend their rick folks’ club. And he donates a lot more money to the foundation than most other companies.

You glance at the bracelet on your wrist and sigh gently. Truth is, if you can look past some _eccentricities_ such as bluntness, lack of empty niceties and a low tolerance for any kind of inefficiency, the Chairman isn’t that bad an employer. He pays well, he never complains about vacations or sick leaves, he upholds a very generous coverage with the health and retirement plans, he provides employees with free lunches and beverages, he gives hefty bonuses every year…

You’re not surprised that the Ackerman Corp. is among the most highly sought after places of employment, despite Levi’s testy reputation.

The current, relaxed song comes to a close and the radio host starts monotonically reading out the news. You make an unimpressed face and reach to change the channel for a while. You never liked this guy’s voice.

_“The former Chairman of the multi-billion-euro company Ackerman Corporation has been arrested and faces charges for trespassing as well as breaking and entering.”_

That makes you pause. You frown and quickly turn up the volume. Levi’s uncle got arrested?

_“The police and Ackerman Corp. representatives both refuse to make further comments at this moment. The owner of the establishment Mr Ackerman allegedly entered illegally wished to remain anonymous. He, however, contacted a media representative to publicly allege Mr Ackerman of attempted kidnapping.”_

Your eyes bulge at that. Kidnapping? Kenny Ackerman?

During your years at Ackerman Corp., you never learnt a thing about Kenny Ackerman. You don’t recall seeing him and aside from the odd phone call with Levi, he’s very much stayed out of the company affairs.

You wonder what the situation is like. You anticipate a busy day at work.

You hear no further information from the news by the time you park the car in the employee parking area.

By the time you make it to your desk, your phone rings with a call from Levi. You can only guess what it’s about.

“Sir,” you greet and sit down. You turn on your computer.

“Give no comments to any press that might call and patch no one you don’t know through to me,” come Levi’s orders the second you pick up.

“Alright. Anything else?”

“If Dot Pixis calls, tell him to contact me as soon as possible.”

Dot Pixis, you’ve heard his name mentioned a few time and you know he’s somewhat of a family lawyer.

“Where are you, sir?” you ask, a little concerned.

“Driving to the office from the station. The best we can do is get that idiot a lawyer.”

“Is he guilty?” you ask carefully.

“I’m not going to discuss something like that over the phone.”

“Fine,” you relent. “Be sure to not accidentally send any nosy press people those dancing stickers of yours,” you can’t help but jab with just a bit of mischief.

Levi’s quiet for a while and you’re fully prepared for him to reprimand you. Instead, when he speaks up, you can hear the amused smirk in his voice.

“I’ll be at the office in fifteen minutes. Prepare some Honey Chamomile.”

“Yes, sir,” you hum. He hangs up and you get up with a stretch.

Well, you doubt the press will bombard Levi too much. After all, he’s still just Kenny Ackerman’s nephew. You entered the company long after he retired, and you don’t know much about what he’s been up to since.

Levi walks in just as you’re settling down the teapot on his desk. He sits down and watches with a frown as you pour him a cup. He looks stressed. Then again, anyone would in his situation.

You don’t realise you have anything to do with his unhappy expression and you’re just about to turn you away when he calls for you.

“Hey. Show me your hand,” he demands. You give him a weirded out look but do as you’re told. He grabs your right wrist and looks at it closely.

You don’t get what it’s about until you realise your bracelet isn’t where it usually is around your wrist. You gasp a little and quickly pry your hand away to check yourself.

You slip your fingers into your sleeve and feel up until you feel the familiar metal.

“It got stuck in my shirt, sir,” you explain sheepishly and pull the bracelet back down in place. He looks over it, satisfied, and turns his attention to his computer.

You walk out and close the door after yourself. You sit down with a sigh. You sure were nervous there for a precious second that you had lost Levi’s gift-

Now, wait just a second.

Since when have you promised to wear that bracelet, to the point where it’s warranted for Levi to grab you and inspect you like some dissatisfied boyfriend?

You hold your forehead with a deep sigh, sensing an impending headache. You’re mostly disturbed by your own reaction and how naturally you went along with his demand for an explanation.

Lately, you and the Chairman have had rather odd relations. Giving you gifts, texting you, you indirectly asking him to take you out…

Which reminds you.

You decisively push what just happened to the back of your mind and instead turn to your computer. You google the concert schedule for The Van Schagen Brothers. You delve out your calendar from your bag while the page loads.

You’re left disappointed when you check their web page. As it turns out, typically to your luck, the band is about to go on an indefinite hiatus and has no concerts for the foreseeable future aside from private events.

You huff and scratch your head. Now what? You’d really like to see them live. Especially now that you know you won’t have a chance to in God knows how long after the EFE party.

The confusion you feel towards Levi keeps you from going into his office and straight-up asking him to take you to the party. Instead, you slowly and hesitantly take out the e-mail you received from Erwin Smith a few weeks back.

You glance over it and try to decipher if there’s anything in there that would hint towards this being an inappropriate invitation, but there’s nothing. Mr Smith is offering to give you some experience with navigating socialite circles and business parties.

Experience that would without a doubt also come in handy during the convention overseas, you suddenly realise. You’re not completely insecure about it, but it does make you a bit nervous that you’re a lower middle-class brat on your way to a high-class, international business convention. With a grumpy fusser like Levi no less, who’s bound to step on a few toes with his bluntness.

You pick up your cell phone and, mostly on a whim, dial Erwin Smith’s number. You’re not nearly prepared enough when he picks up after a couple of rings, and you flinch when you hear his voice.

”Good morning, Ms Reader,” he greets you with a pleasant, gentle tone.

“Mr Smith, good morning,” you greet stuttering just a little. You curse yourself in your mind, but Erwin doesn’t seem to mind. He chuckles gently.

“What can I do for you, Ms Reader?”

“A-ah, yeah, about that,” you start nervously. You kind of regret calling already, but now that you decided to do it you might as well see it through.

“Well, I was wondering about the EFE fundraising party. Sir,” you hurry to add when you realise you’re being way too casual with someone your senior. “I noticed that I really like the band that’s scheduled to perform, so I was just wondering if you’ve, erm, found a companion.”

The line is quiet for a while. Enough for you to cringe and sweat bullets. You’re on the verge of telling him you were just kidding and closing the line.

“Send me your address via e-mail. I’ll pick you up next week’s Friday at six-thirty,” Erwin promises, his voice calm but clearly pleased. You wonder if you’ve made a mistake but quickly swipe the thought aside.

“Alright, sir. Thank you.”

“It will be my pleasure, Ms Reader,” he chuckles smoothly. “Until then. Good day, Assistant.”

“Good day, Mr Smith.”

As soon as Erwin hangs up, you start feeling a bit guilty. For what, you don’t know, but your eyes involuntarily slide to the bracelet.

No, you decide.

Levi refused to go with you and it’s not like you’re not allowed to spend your free time with whomever you please.

But you didn’t _really_ ask Levi, a part of your brain injects. You just gave him a vague clue and expected him, a socially inept grump, to pick up on it.

Now hold up, you tell your brain. Since when has this been a tug-of-war between Mr Smith and Levi? It’s not like you and the Chairman are romantically affiliated.

You glance at the bracelet again and groan at yourself.

Well, what’s done is done. It’s not like you can call Erwin now and call it off without appearing unprofessional.

You turn back to work and try to forget all about it.

-

When evening falls, you’re still working furiously. Maybe a hefty dose of overtime will wipe that slightly uncomfortable feeling from your gut. You answer every e-mail, even ones you’re allowed to ignore. You check this week’s schedule at least five times. You spend extra time in the break room making sure you get the Chairman’s afternoon and evening tea just right.

By the time Levi emerges from his office at around 8 p.m., you’re still sitting at your desk. Your legs crossed and eyes focused, you’re re-writing a document that’s already been approved by the Chairman.

Levi pauses where he is and you don’t need to turn to know he’s giving you a narrow-eyed look.

“What are you doing?” he asks bluntly.

“Work,” you grunt and stubbornly keep your eyes on the screen.

“I haven’t given you any assignments that require you to work this late today,” Levi points out. He sounds a little suspicious.

“I feel like working,” you mutter. You glance at him and a sudden wave of guilt washes over you. You break the eye contact immediately. Levi picks up on it. Anyone would, to be fair.

“Shut down your computer and get ready for leaving. If you’re so insistent on working, you might as well do something useful.” Levi’s tone is blunt and leaves no room for arguments. You do as he says.

“Where are we going, sir?” you ask as you turn off the lights in the office and follow him to the hallway.

“Out.”

You blink and follow him to the elevators. He marches in without as much as giving you a glance, but you’re confused. Where does he want to take you? As the elevator rolls downwards, you steal a peek at Levi, suddenly feeling rather fidgety.

“Sir? By out, what do you mean?”

“Dinner.”

You blink.

“Huh? With a business partner?”

“No. With me.”

You give him a puzzled look. Since when have you been close enough to dine together? A nervous, albeit not entirely unpleasantly so, feeling settles over you.

“Are you ordering me to dine with you as my employer?” The question is careful and fainter than you’d like.

“If I didn’t ask you as your boss, would you say yes?” Levi inquires with an updrawn eyebrow. You lick your lips and swallow. You think it over.

“I… Don’t know, sir,” you admit. What disturbs you the most is that you can’t say you’d decline while feeling completely honest.

“In that case, I’m ordering you.”

For once, you can’t find anything witty to say, and fifteen minutes later, you’re sitting next to Levi on the backseat of his limousine, awkwardly staring out of the window. It’s not the first time you’ve been in a car with him, but it’s the first time you recall being so unnerved about it.

Levi looks as cool as always. He’s leaning his head into his hand and staring out of the window. You note that his purple tie matches your bracelet and earrings nicely. Is it a coincidence? You look over his crisp, tight-fitted suit, his strictly styled hair, his sharp, dark eyes.

It’s here, in the dim car, with the dark streets passing by the window in nocturnal silence, that you truly realise how handsome Levi is.

Levi gives you a somewhat bothered look and turns to face you.

“What? Am I overstepping my boundaries again?” he asks. You wonder how to reply to this. Technically, yes. But it’s not like you especially _mind_.

“It’s okay,” you finally say with a shrug. “I’m not going to say no to a free dinner, sir.”

It’s a line of reasoning you can cling to without feeling too weird about dining with the Chairman.

When the car pulls over in front of a Japanese restaurant, you let out a relieved sigh when you note it’s not a skyscraper.

The driver opens the door for you and you climb outside. You give Levi an insecure look but he’s not going to give you any reassurance. He marches inside and you can’t do anything but follow him meekly.

The interior is squeaky clean and decorated with beautiful whites and light pinks. The waitresses are scuttling around in full kimonos and distinct scent of seafood and steamed ginger immediately makes your mouth water.

As you get seated, you order a small starter of some sashimi and green tea. Levi goes for tempura and a glass of sake.

You look around. There’s no live music, just some sombre enka playing in the background. The customers are mostly couples and Asian businessmen.

An awkward silence falls between you. Usually, you ignore each other and focus on work, but now you’re suddenly unable to. You look around and focus on taking deep breaths until the starters are brought to you.

“Thank you for the bracelet, sir,” you finally break the silence. Levi glances at it.

“It’s a cheap piece of garbage but at least it’s more stylish than that embarrassing lump of scrap metal my father sent your way,” Levi disregards. You give him an unimpressed look.

“I rather liked the bracelet your father gave, _sir_ ,” you argue.

“Yeah, which is why I told you that you have shit taste.” Levi sure doesn’t mince his words, does he?

You scoff unhappily and dip your salmon into the soy sauce so aggressively a few droplets fall on the table cloth. Levi gives the forming black blotches a disapproving look.

“So, how are things with Mr Ackerman? Your uncle, I mean,” you ask, mostly to fill the silence. Levi gives you a bland look.

“If you truly want to know, ask at a time when we’re not in a public space. I don’t want to risk anyone overhearing me giving details.”

You nod. You get it. The news did catch you off guard and you make a mental note to ask him about it later.

“How about with your father?” you ask carefully. The Chairman sighs, a little irked.

“I’m doing my damnest to ignore his whole existence but I don’t know for how long I can keep it up.”

“What do you mean? That you might have to marry after all?” you ask and tilt your head.

“That I’ll have to deal with his annoying demands one way or another,” Levi murmurs, more to himself than you. His eyes wander to your bracelet again and it makes your whole body suddenly form goosebumps.

You want to ask what he means by _‘dealing with it’_ but you’re interrupted by the waitress coming to clean out your dishes. Levi orders some nabe for you to share and along with it some rice wine for both of you.

“Sir, my car-” you protest, but he dismisses it with a wave of his hand.

“My driver will take you home and you can take a cab tomorrow morning with the company credit card.”

You want to protest some more, but Levi ignores your unhappy look and instead forcefully engages you in a conversation about the Ackerman Corp. and IntelAcc project.

The sudden reminder of Erwin Smith makes you recall your promise, and you feel increasingly uncomfortable. You contemplate coming clean about it but ultimately decide against it.

It’s still none of Levi’s business and you’re oddly insecure about what his reaction would be. Something tells you he wouldn’t let it slide just like that. Plus, you rationalise, it’s just a party. You’ll go there, see _The Van Schagen Brothers_ and leave after an appropriate time. It’s not a date and you doubt Mr Smith sees it as such either.

When the steaming pot of vegetables and meat is brought before you, you don’t feel all that hungry all of a sudden. Despite that, you collect a small sample of shiitake, pork and udon in the small dish in front of you, mixed with the delicious-smelling broth. Your eyes downcast, you take a few bites. It’s absolutely heavenly but the lump in your throat keeps you from fully enjoying it.

“Sir-”

“You can call me Levi.”

You look at the Chairman like he’s gone mad, choking a little on the sake you were in the process of taking a sip out of.

“I can’t do that, sir.”

“Why not?”

Levi gives you a calm look and doesn’t pause his eating. You notice he eats neatly and elegantly, having no trouble with the chopsticks and he doesn’t as much as get a drop of the broth on the table or the sleeves of his expensive outfit.

“You’re my boss,” you explain dumbly. Levi’s eyes bore blandly into yours.

“This is after hours.”

“You ordered me here as my employer and I believe I’m getting paid for this.”

“In that case, I order you to call me Levi.”

You sigh and look at Levi like he’s a stubborn toddler, not a suave billionaire.

“Sir-”

“Levi,” he insists.

“Sir-”

“ _Levi._ ”

“Fine,” you snap. “Levi. You’re pushing my boundaries again. I don’t believe we are close enough to call each other by first names. Or are you saying you’re also completely alright with calling me Frida?”

“I am,” comes the smug reply. You growl a little under your breath at his cocky expression.

“Well, I’m not. So, can you please respect that?” you plead with a small wince. You’ve already been questioning the nature of your relationship with Levi lately, you don’t need this to shuffle things further.

Levi eyes your distressed face for a while before sighing and turning a bit sullener.

“Fine,” he caves with a huff. You smile a bit at his pouty face.

“Thank you, sir.”

You finish the meal while making chit-chat about work. You drink a bit more than you intended and when it’s time to pay the bill and leave, you feel a little bit buzzed.

You notice Levi slips his own credit card to the waitress instead of the company card. You quietly wonder why as you get on your feet and pull on your jacket.

You walk to the entrance of the restaurant and Levi makes a quick call to his driver. You sway a little where you’re standing, a tipsy smile on your face. You don’t usually drink more than a glass because you have a low tolerance.

“It’s a beautiful, clear night,” you comment with a relaxed sigh. Levi looks at you and nods, a bit thoughtful when examining your candid smile.

“I suppose.”

When the car curves in front of the restaurant, you don’t notice the two tiny stairs leading from the restaurant door to the street, and you stumble just a bit.

It’s nothing you would completely lose your balance over, but despite that, you feel Levi’s arm quickly slip around your waist to stabilise you.

“Hey, try to stay on your feet,” he barks an order, though he lacks his usual venom. If anything, he sounds a little concerned. You turn your head and see him watching you with a slight frown, your heads closer than what you’re used to.

“Oh. Thanks.” Your voice is a little strangled. Levi waits until you’re firmly back on your feet before letting go of you and putting a bit of distance between you. He looks distantly flustered for a fleeting second before quickly regaining his composure.

“I didn’t think you’re the kind of make that kind of slips,” Levi hums, surprisingly playfully, as you climb into the limousine.

“You’re not one to talk, sir. Remember that dancing whale?”

“I thought I updated the company policy to explicitly ban talking about the dancing whale,” Levi replies without missing a beat and you have to look over his face carefully to decipher that he’s joking. As much as you never thought you’d see the day.

Before you can get a hold of your tipsy brain, you’ve let out a surprisingly girlish giggle. Levi gives you a quizzical look.

“Was my joke to your liking, Assistant?”

“Perhaps,” you give a sincere reply. You have a faint smile on your face as you look out of the window.

“Thank you for the meal, sir.”

“It wasn’t an issue. In the future, if there’s anything you want, you need only let me know,” Levi answers steadily. You narrow your eyes and give him a playful glare to hide the sudden surge of butterflies that was just unleashed in your stomach.

“How suspicious. What do you want in return for such kindness, sir?” You cross your arms and sceptically loll your head to the side.

“You.”

You were not expecting that and you’re pretty sure you feel the driver swerve the car a little. Even he must have been taken aback. Your mouth hangs open as you stare at Levi.

What is this? What could Levi possibly mean with this? For a long moment, you just gape at his deadpan face.

“A-are you drunk, sir?” you finally manage to push out of your mouth. Levi leans back, swipes his hair away from his forehead and thinks it over for a moment.

“I might be, a little bit,” he admits but he doesn’t seem bothered by the fact. You laugh nervously and glue your eyes to the window. What the hell has gotten into the Chairman lately?

“W-when you say you want _me_ , what do you mean?” you ask warily. You can hear your alcohol-induced pulse hammering in your ears. You’re too scared to turn your head and see what kind of eyes the Chairman is currently looking at you with.

A minute goes by as Levi contemplates in total silence.

“I don’t know,” he finally confesses nonchalantly. “But my guess is I’ll figure that out, sooner or later.”

What is that supposed to mean?

The car stops in front of your apartment building. You reach for the door handle but pause for just a moment.

You turn to give Levi a lost look. Can you leave? Is he expecting something?

A goodnight’s kiss or an invite inside, a very unwelcome part of your brain interrupts, but you violently shove those loose thoughts away.

“I…” you start and trail off. You fidget in your seat. Levi gives you an inquiring look.

“Do you want something, Assistant?” he asks and crosses his legs. You look down and frown, confused. Do you?

“I don’t know, sir.” You open the door and breathe in the fresh night air. You give Levi a conservative smile.

“Goodnight, sir.”

“Goodnight, Assistant.”

When you slump down on your bed twenty minutes later, after brushing your teeth and removing your make-up, it takes you a few minutes to realise there are no sheets as you dumped them in the laundry this morning. You drag yourself up, put some in and when you’re done and slump down again, it takes you almost two full hours to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand she's back! This time we have confusing feelings, Levi attempting what looks like a date and Reader wondering if she's accidentally become a thot.
> 
> Give me your two cents! Is Levi doing a good job trying to get closer to his assistant? Is Reader being a two-timing jerk? Should Erwin Smith just be yeeted off this story? Should Levi just get down on his knees and propose already?
> 
> Let me know!~


	6. Hawaiian Kona

You nervously pull the hem of your dress down so that it properly reaches over your knees. You fidget a bit and when you deem your dress is not in further need of adjusting, you go for your hair next.

“Nervous, Ms Reader?”

You turn to give Erwin Smith what you hope is a convincing smile. He’s sitting across from you, one leg crossed over the other and a glass of bourbon on the rocks in his hand.

His suit is black and tailored perfectly to match his broad, sturdy body. His shoes are shining in the intimate, dim light of the limousine and his tie is pearly white and ironed to silky smooth. The white undershirt looks so new it’s probably still crispy to the touch. A platinum watch is peeking from under his sleeve (which is cuffed with what looks like silver buttons).

You glance at your relatively simple cocktail dress. You know for a fact that it’s appropriate for this event as you went through the invite with meticulous attention, but you still feel underdressed next to Erwin, whose outfit looks like you couldn’t afford it even if you saved up your salary for months.

You look good enough, you think. The dress is black and purple with a simple A-line silhouette. You curled your hair and left it loose save for a small hairpin keeping your bangs at bay. You’re wearing a simple pair of comfortable, black heels and your make-up is non-intrusive.

Without your consent, your eyes search for the bracelet Levi gave you. You put it on, mostly because it matches nicely with the purple on your dress and earrings.

“I’m a little bit nervous, sir,” you admit and sip on the champagne Erwin generously gave you once you got in the car with him.

“You need not call me sir while we’re out during our private time, Ms Reader. You may call me Erwin.”

“I couldn’t,” you protest immediately. “May I just call you Mr Smith?”

“If that pleases you,” Erwin replies. He looks relaxed and confident. You’re sure it’s not the first time he’s taken a lady to a party.

“So,” you start and swipe a lock of your hair behind your ear. “What is this party going to be like? Anything I need to stay reminded of?”

“Nothing in particular. I will do my best to be a reliable escort.”

“Thank you, Mr Smith.”

You decided against telling the Chairman about this. Ever since your last personal encounter at the restaurant, you’ve gone to reasonable lengths to avoid having more contact with him than necessary.

You’re still not any closer to figuring out what he means when he said he wants _you_. You doubt he knows the answer either. He’s left you be, for the most part, though he’s taken up on the habit of subtly glancing at your wrist every morning as he orders his morning tea, just to see if the bracelet is still there.

You sigh gently, somewhat distracted, and look out of the window. Lately, you get a weird feeling in your gut when you get physically too close to Levi. You take note of the small things he does, like the way his right eyebrow furrows when he reads if there’s something in the text he vehemently disagrees with, the way he clicks his tongue when he’s interrupted, the way he smirks smugly whenever he thinks he’s said something witty.

You’re slowly realising that you think he’s charming, in his own eccentric way. A one of a kind person.

You wonder if it’s what Levi was going for all along. Have you been lured in according to his plan? Hook, line and sinker, the whole thing?

Erwin watches your distracted, even dreamy demeanour, with well-intended curiosity. It’s rare to see someone sharp like you this idle. He allows you to muse by yourself as he eyes you, sipping on his whiskey every now and then.

You only snap back to reality when the car pulls to a halt. You realise you’ve been quiet the whole way and give Erwin a glance to see if he’s offended, but he doesn’t seem too bothered. He gets out of the car and offers you his arm. Politely, you take it and climb out after him.

The venue is nothing short of extravagant. It’s a bit further from the centre of the city, at a very wealthy area where the majority of properties are either mansions or golf courses.

The building in front of you is massive and gleaming slightly in the dim evening. It’s pure white and looks like it might be made of marble. A well-maintained fountain is planted in the middle of the roundabout in front of the gate-protected main entrance.

You see a few people exiting cars ahead and behind the one you arrived in, and slowly trickle inside. You’re relieved to notice that many of them don’t have outfits in the calibre of Erwin’s. He must be one of the better off people attending. It’s good, makes you feel less out of place.

You walk up the flight of recently washed stone stairs and step inside, careful not to stumble in your heels. Instantly, you’re greeted with the sight of a busy lounge. After the hangar service counter, there’s a large hall full of people engaged in varying degrees of mingling.

On the sides, there are bar counters and buffets filled with the fanciest of dishes; you see one counter serving sushi, another filled with delicious-smelling carbonara and lasagna. Steaming hot paella, freshly baked baguettes, crispy empanadas, mouth-wateringly fragrant onion soup, beautiful hand-crafted xiaolongbao, cold-smoked salmon, there’s a staggering collection of various foods, representing an impressive variety of cuisines from all around the world. In the corner, there is a dessert table with chocolate fondue, a dozen different kinds of cake (you’re especially craving the key lime pie accented with hefty amounts of whipped cream), freshly brewed coffee and tea as well as newly squeezed lemonade and orange juice.

You see The Van Schagen Brothers, they’re occupying a small stage in the back. Their ten-member band is playing some relaxed lounge jazz with slow drums and seductive double bass. You recognise the song they’re currently playing, and you’re a little dismayed to see that no one is paying any attention to the fine music they’re being provided with.

You give your jacket to the doorman for safekeeping and instead cover your bare shoulders with a thin, purple silk scarf.

Erwin adjusts his tie and flashes you a small, encouraging smile. You take his arm again and walk further in with him.

You don’t get more than a few feet in before someone already approaches you.

“Erwin!” a friendly-looking, middle-aged man exclaims and pats his back casually. “Good to see you here, pal.”

“Mr Schneider,” Erwin greets politely, though you observe right away that he isn’t as fond of this man as he is of Erwin. “I’m happy to see you’re doing alright. How’s Lena?”

“She’s off there somewhere indulging in some steak and hoarding all of the garlic butter. You know how it is, when she’s stressed, she eats.” He turns to you with a jolly grin. “Women,” he quips as if you’re both in on some inside joke. You give him a polite but chilly smile, not gracing him with a reply.

“And who might this lovely lady be? It’s been a while since you’ve attended a party like this with someone. I don’t think I’ve seen you take anyone besides Martha to these little gatherings,” he hums curiously.

You glance at Erwin, suddenly a lot more self-conscious. Not of the man eyeing you like you’re an obscenely shaped object, you’re used to that, but the fact he hasn’t brought other women to these gatherings. Does it mean he’s kept inviting you with ulterior motives?

Erwin doesn’t introduce you for you, a move you like. Levi never introduces you in your stead either. You like it when people stay reminded that you’re a real person with a sense of agency who can speak for herself.

“Frida Reader.” You hold out your hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr Schneider.”

“Reader? I could swear I’ve heard that name somewhere,” Mr Schneider muses out loud to Erwin as he absent-mindedly takes your hand.

“That would be because she’s Levi Ackerman’s personal assistant,” Erwin answers nonchalantly. You see Mr Schneider’s small eyes widen.

“Huh,” he exhales dumbly, so hard his thick, dark bush of a moustache flaps a little over his thin lips with the airflow. He combs his hair a bit with his hand, carefully making sure it covers the large, bald spot on the back of his head. He then turns his eyes to you, now a whole lot more intrigued. You can see the clogs turning (rather slowly) as he tries to put it all together.

“So, you’re personally acquainted with that grinch’s assistant?” he asks Erwin. He flashes a charming smile.

“Not at all, Mr Schneider. I’m simply offering to give her some valuable advice with navigating gatherings like these, as a sign of goodwill between myself and Mr Ackerman. As you know, he’s not fond of parties.”

You narrow your eyes a little. You doubt a lot of that is true. Levi doesn’t know you’re here and you know for a fact that the Chairman would never ask Erwin to do such a thing. But you’re not complaining; if anything, you’re happy he’s making up a white lie to keep gossip from spreading.

“A shame. Wouldn’t mind taking out someone like you myself, sweetheart,” Mr Schneider says with a sincere smile.

“Thank you, Mr Schneider, but unfortunately I’m not much for these parties, either. Must be the influence of _that grinch_ , as you accurately put it.”

“Oh, but are you sure?” he teases. “I’m very good at keeping people entertained.”

“Yes, there is a distinct degree of entertainment your presence provides, Mr Schneider,” you say with a smile. “I’m flattered, but a man as _special_ as you would be wasted on someone like me.”

He’s clearly too arrogant to even entertain the notion that you could be calling him a clown whom you never want to see again, but you see from the corner of your eye that Erwin is shaking subtly with noiseless laughter.

“Are you sure now, sweetheart?”

Mr Schneider leans in a little, invading your personal space, and you’re wondering how much outrage would follow if you straight up took a step back to establish your boundaries.

Luckily, Erwin is a step ahead and wraps a rather protective arm around your back, his hand gently placed on your arm.

“Just because I’m here as her supervisor doesn’t mean she’s up for grabs, Mr Schneider,” he scolds lightly with a patient smile. Mr Schneider leans back and laughs a little.

“I’m just teasing. I wouldn’t want to upset Lena too much,” he hums. “Now, Erwin, have you looked over my proposal? I think S&N would make a fine addition to your bank software project.”

“I have read through the proposal,” Erwin hums. Mr Schneider sips on his gin and tonic with a hopeful look on his face. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit well with what I have planned with Mr Ackerman. Furthermore, he agreed to this project on the sole condition that no other companies are involved as he _‘doesn’t feel like dealing with gold diggers with no standards’_.”

Mr Schneider laughs awkwardly, clearly not sure if he should take what Erwin said seriously.

“Well, you know how he is. Refuses to do business with most companies, insists on producing everything by himself instead of outsourcing to cut costs. It’s because of his picky nature that the Ackerman Corp. has not grown as exponentially as it did with his uncle.”

You squint a little but stay out of it. If this man insists on bashing your boss in front of you and realistically expects you not to tell Levi first thing on Monday, he’s entitled to being a complete and utter moron.

“I’m aware. This doesn’t erase the fact that he has not welcomed S&N to join this project. As delighted as I would be to have you on board, Mr Schneider.”

Mr Schneider huffs and rolls his eyes. He then turns to you with an obviously faked smile.

“Your boss is a very eccentric man, miss. I’m merely a bit puzzled by him every now and then, is all,” he explains as if you weren’t here the whole time listening to his rant. He probably thinks your intellect is on a toddler-like level and you couldn’t decipher what he was saying.

“Of course, sir,” you answer with a sparkling smile. “I don’t doubt that a man such as the Chairman would mystify someone like you, Mr Scnheider.” Given how Levi makes ethical business decisions and isn’t an asshat to his employees, a concept probably unfathomable to this man.

This guy can spew whatever bullshit he wants, it won’t change the fact that you know what’s going on and that Levi is a much better boss than he could ever be. And it won’t stop you from roasting him subtly in ways only you and Erwin catch.

Mr Schneider soon departs to go look for his wife, leaving you and Erwin alone. Erwin gives you a sympathetic smile.

“My apologies for his behaviour. He’s, as Levi often calls it, _an insufferable chauvinist pig_.”

“You think, sir?” you ask dryly. Nonetheless, you let it go and instead look around the tables. You could use a cup of coffee right about now.

It does, however, warm your mind to think that Levi actively talks smack about that guy.

“Do you and the Chairman talk a lot?” you suddenly ask, out of sheer curiosity. You know they’ve known each other since university, but you wonder how much they’re in contact outside of work.

“Every now and then. We meet up for dinner and drinks occasionally,” Erwin replies. You walk by the dessert table and you can’t resist the temptation for a cup of coffee, despite knowing it’s getting very late for caffeine consumption. It’s not every day you can get your hands on some Hawaiian Kona Coffee.

For the next couple of hours, you walk around the venue leisurely with drinks and food. It goes down exactly as you surmise, with a lot of empty compliments, polite chuckles and business talk. You understand truly well why Levi doesn’t like these sorts of gatherings. You nod along and try to stay as non-controversial as possible. Mostly, you’re focusing on the music. Erwin is mindful of you and tries to engage with people closest to the stage so you can get a good look at The Van Schagen Brothers.

It’s nearing night hours when you step outside. The venue gets unexpectedly hot, and the cool night breeze is very welcome on your thinly moistened skin.

Erwin escorts you into the garden. It’s just as extravagant as the interior, with neatly kept bushes lining the paved walkway. Aside from the small path you’re walking along, the rest of the yard is filled with blooming flowers, mostly roses and lilies but you spot some lavenders and orchids as well.

The walkway leads to a small and round area that’s been paved, with a few benches situated along the edges. In the middle, there is a shiny white marble water fountain. The sound of the running, splashy water relaxes you a bit as you sit down with Erwin. Luckily, there’s no one else around.

“Are you alright? You’re not cold, are you?” Erwin asks properly and gestures towards the jacket of his suit, ready to take it off and place it on your shoulders.

“No, sir. I think I would get a heat stroke if I wore that. Furthermore, it looks so expensive I’m afraid I’d fall in debt just by touching it,” you admit. As the evening progressed, you got more and more relaxed with Erwin. He’s been very courteous, included you in conversations and checked that you’re alright and not overwhelmed every now and then. All in all, he’s been a perfectly pleasant companion tonight.

Erwin smiles at your words.

“I don’t know if you realise it, Ms Reader, but that’s exactly what’s so charming about you.”

“Charming? What is?” you ask with a quizzical look.

“The way you always remain so sharp and professional but still find a way to speak your mind. For instance, there are not many people who have the nerve to talk back to Mr Schneider and go about it so intelligently he doesn’t even realise he’s being ridiculed. That was exhilarating to watch,” he explains with a faint smile. You hum. So, he’s caught onto your sassy side. It’s not like it’s a secret.

“Thank you, Mr Smith.”

“How do you like the evening so far?” Erwin asks. You swing your legs a bit where you’re sitting.

“Well, the music is good and their coffee is well-made. Those are the things I was anticipating. I didn’t come here for _stimulating conversation_ so I wasn’t disappointed on that front.”

You think it over and your eyes widen. That could come off poorly.

“I mean, with people like Mr Schneider, I think your company has been most pleasant,” you hurry to add.

Erwin doesn’t look offended. He chuckles.

“Don’t worry, Ms Reader, that’s how interpreted it. Even if my company was terrible, you would be too smart and polite to tell that to my face this straightforwardly.”

Well, he’s not _wrong_.

A pleasant silence falls between you.

“Oh, by the way,” you suddenly recall. “Mr Schneider mentioned that you haven’t been seen in female company since separating from your ex-wife.”

“That is correct,” Erwin confirms. You lick your lips and fiddle with the hem of your skirt, suddenly a tad nervous.

“So, why have you been so adamant about inviting me to come with you?”

Erwin turns to you with a well-meaning twinkle in his eyes.

“If I said it was because I find you incredibly charming and wanted to see how you would handle a situation you’re not familiar with, what would you say?”

“Why would you want to see that?” you ask, a little taken aback.

“To see you use your sharp mind to improvise and adapt on the spot. I was not disappointed.”

“Oh,” you reply dumbly. Erwin smiles and reaches a gentle hand to grasp your arm.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Ms Reader,” he warns properly and leans in. Your mind blanks, your eyes close more on instinct than anything else.

Erwin’s lips press against you, gentle and courteous. His hand slides up your arm to cup the side of your face. You place yours on his shoulder. It feels… Nice, you suppose. His mouth isn’t dry or rough or intrusive. He’s savouring the moment and remains mostly unmoving. It’s a conservative first kiss.

You open your eyes briefly and they almost automatically move to the bracelet on your wrist. The Chairman’s face penetrates your thoughts without a warning.

A sudden, intense wave of guilt washes over you and before you realise what’s happening, you’ve pulled away with a gasp and pushed Erwin away, both hands extended against his chest.

“Wait. I can’t do this, Mr Smith, I’m sorry. I mean, the Chairman-” you slip before you can get a hold of your tongue. You snap your mouth shut and watch Erwin with wide, apprehensive eyes. You don’t know what to do now or how to explain your sudden reaction. Hell, you can’t even explain it to yourself.

Erwin watches you for a moment with a calm yet unreadable expression. Then, he chuckles and pulls away. Hunching over, he leans his head into his hand, obviously quite surprised.

“I see. I underestimated him,” he muses to himself. His chuckle turns into full-on laughter, and for a moment, instead of dashing and dapper he looks boyish and refreshingly carefree.

He turns to you with a relaxed smile. You look a bit wary. He did kiss you not a minute ago after all.

“Don’t worry. I won’t do that again,” he promises. “My apologies, kissing you was out of line. I don’t wish to impose on whatever is going on between you and Levi.”

“Me and the Chairman?” you hurry to deny in a futile attempt to do some damage control, but Erwin doesn’t buy it.

“I never anticipated him to beat me to the punch,” he chuckles, clearly amused. “Oh well.”

“I’m not sure I follow, sir. The Chairman and I are not together,” you explain. He glances at you with a knowing smile.

“Oh, but surely _something_ made you push me away and mention him first thing,” he points out and if you didn’t view Erwin as someone who’s always posh and proper, you’d think he’s teasing you just a bit.

You sigh and look down to your lap where your hands are folded. With a wince, you try to sort your thoughts. What should you do?

“It’s been complicated lately,” you finally admit. You might as well discuss this with someone. You don’t want to with people at work because it would be unprofessional conduct, and Erwin is the only person who knows both you and Levi outside of work.

“He bought me this bracelet, gets cranky if I don’t wear it, takes me out to dinner for no apparent reason…” As you list the things, the clearer it becomes to you that he’s doing things that would traditionally be considered courting.

“Sounds like excessive attention, coming from someone like Levi,” Erwin confirms easily. He doesn’t seem to be annoyed or upset about the events turning from him kissing you to him giving you love advice on the Chairman. A relaxed smile is patched on his face and he watches you with patient eyes.

“But I’m his assistant. He shouldn’t be interested in me, it’s unprofessional,” you murmur. A moth flies by, making you jolt a little. “And he’s as blunt as always. I don’t really understand what he’s thinking.”

“He is…” Erwin searches a moment for the right word. “Intricate.” He rolls the word around in his mouth for a moment. “Yes. That’s how I would describe him. Intricate.”

“How so?” You turn to look at Erwin properly. He offers a temperate, albeit a little mysterious smile.

“This is just my opinion, but I think the best way to understand someone is to learn more about them from themselves, not make do with a simplified and contorted explanation given by someone else,” he says. You think it over.

“I suppose, sir.”

“Plus, I would feel uncomfortable revealing some telling details about him. He avoids discussing his personal life, so every little tidbit I’ve gotten among the years is a huge display of trust. I wouldn’t want to betray that confidence he has in me.”

You nod.

“Well, now that we have straightened this out and I have been properly rejected, I think we should soon wrap up this date and go back,” he suggests.

A suggestion immediately approved. You get up and smile at him, relieved.

“Thank you, Mr Smith. Not only for bringing me here but also for being so pleasant about this whole ordeal.”

“It’s my pleasure, Ms Reader. If anything, I’m gleefully going to watch from the sidelines as you two navigate this new and foreign situation. I expect not to be disappointed.”

“We are not some kind of soap opera, Mr Smith,” you scold playfully. He chuckles.

“Real life is often far more endearing than soap operas, Ms Reader.”

Back inside, you’re hit by the stale air and loud chatter which you didn’t miss one bit. The Van Schagen Brothers are packing up and their music is replaced with some Bossa Nova quietly playing through the speakers.

You go and steal an elaborately decorated cupcake from the dessert stand while Erwin quickly visits the bathroom. After that, you’re gone. You’re a lot more relaxed on the way back than you were on the way to the party.

You kind of needed that kiss to sort some things out. No longer can you pretend that there’s nothing between you and Levi. No longer can you pretend that there are no foreign and wildly unprofessional feelings involved.

You fiddle with the bracelet and mull things over. Erwin mostly lets you be, he must have understood that you have a lot on your mind right now.

The car pulls in front of your apartment building. You get out and look a bit surprised when Erwin gets out with you.

“Thank you for the evening, Ms Reader,” comes the proper statement. He grasps your hand and gives it a polite kiss.

“Likewise. I enjoyed tonight. Goodnight, Mr Smith.”

You didn’t realise there is a black, shiny luxury car parked ahead of Erwin’s, and that there’s someone leaning against it, arms crossed and dark, unhappy eyes watching the scene in front of him.

Only when that someone clears his throat just as you pull your hand away from Erwin’s, you turn. Your eyes fly open, you make a small whimper like you’re a dog caught red-handed, and all coherent thoughts vanish from your mind.

“Ah, Levi,” Erwin greets like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“Don’t let me interrupt your little _moment_ ,” Levi drawls lazily, but his eyes are stormy.

“Now, now,” Erwin raises his hands in surrender. “No need to point those figurative quills of yours at me. If I was planning on further pursuing your assistant, I would not have called you to come clean about taking her out in the first place.”

Oh.

Erwin must have called Levi while he was in the bathroom. Good on him for taking the bro etiquette seriously but alas, you are wildly unprepared for this encounter.

“I believe this discussion is best had in my absence. I’m fully prepared for you to call me and give me an earful later,” Erwin promises Levi and opens the door of his car. “But for now, I’ll get going. Goodnight. Levi, Ms Reader.”

Erwin nods at you in turns. Once he’s hopped inside, the car drives off. You stare after it for a second before turning back to Levi. You have zero clues on how to approach this.

“Would-would you like to come inside, sir?” you ask, a little flustered. One thing you know is that you don’t want to have this talk out in the open. Levi looks over you wordlessly, his eyes pause on the bracelet as he ponders.

“Yeah,” comes the verdict. He walks over purposefully, grabs your decorated wrist, still gentle despite his unhappy mien, and drags you inside after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS going to have Levi and Reader's discussion but then I decided that you know what, everyone loves a good cliffhanger and this chapter is already long enough.
> 
> ...What do you mean you don't like a cliffhanger? Well, it's what you're getting so~ ^^
> 
> This time we had a hungry author writing unnecessarily detailed descriptions of food, Reader about to end Mr Schneider's whole career with her airhorn-inducing burns and Erwin being a good bro and all around respectable person. Woot woot!
> 
> I've also been playing with the idea of making a Tumblr blog where I write drabbles and ficlets based on scenarios people give me via asks, just to train my writing and getting comfortable writing Levi in a variety of situations, but I'm not sure if anyone would be interested in that ^^;
> 
> //EDIT: I made the blog. [HERE](https://heichoudaddery.tumblr.com/) is a link in case you want to follow or send me asks!
> 
> The generous amount of comments and encouragement you guys have provided me with are at the root of my frequent updates, so if you want proven methods to keep my momentum going, dropping a comment would be one such way!


	7. Earl Grey

As you step inside your apartment and call for Alexa to turn on the lights, Levi doesn’t speak up. You take off your shoes and jacket and walk further in.

Levi gives the whole apartment a once-over. Instantly, you can see he’s not impressed. There are some dishes in your sink and your coffee table has a used wine glass on it.

With a huff, he sits down on the couch. Immediately, he shifts uncomfortably and reaches under himself to pull out a bra. He looks at it with an unreadable expression and blinks. Your eyes widen and you hurry to grab it from him. You got ready in a bit of a hurry and when you switched to a strapless bra, you didn’t bother with taking this to the laundry basket and instead just chucked it on the couch as you passed by.

In your defence, you didn’t anticipate your boss to come to visit you tonight, given how he’s never been here.

“My my, Assistant Reader. I didn’t take you for a pet person,” Levi says lazily. He places his elbow on the armrest and leans his head into his hand. His unreadable eyes look over the apartment and finally settle on you.

“A pet person?” Your eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“You seem to be very serious about dust mite husbandry.”

“Ha.” Your reply is unimpressed and ice cold. You’d think Levi has more pressing issues at hand than dissing your living environment.

In the kitchen, you prepare both of you some tea. Levi’s nose wrinkles when he sees the tag of the tea bag hanging from the mug.

“Earl Grey from a bag. Never thought I’d stoop this low,” he comments, and the corner of your eye twitches.

“Excuse me for offering refreshments, _sir_ ,” you mutter and grab a chair from the kitchen to sit down across from Levi.

Levi takes a very suspicious sip of the tea and shudders a little. He places the mug down and doesn’t touch it further. He looks over your outfit.

“Feel free to go change into more comfortable clothes.”

“It’s alright.”

You note that it’s the first time you’ve seen Levi in his casual clothes. Instead of a suit, he’s wearing a surprisingly simple coordination of T-shirt and jeans. Granted, the white T-shirt looks silky soft and is probably from some expensive brand’s limited collection. It’s so clean you suspect Levi might bleach it after every use. His jeans are medium fit, not too tight but not baggy either, and they’re held up with an expensive leather belt.

If your hunch is correct, Levi would have changed into his suit if he hadn’t come here in a hurry. He must have wanted to catch you before you go home.

“So, how long have you been seeing my friend behind my back?” he asks, calm but obviously unhappy.

“This is the first time we’ve met outside of work. I didn’t go with any kind of ulterior motive.”

“Then why did you go instead of asking me to take you? You knew I had an invitation as well,” he points out coolly. You wince a little.

“Sir, I… Tried to ask you. At least I think I did,” you murmur. Levi thinks it over for a solid minute before a look of mild disbelief takes over him.

“You mean your useless chattering about how you like the band they booked for the party was your way of asking me to take you?” he asks, looking at you incredulously as if he can’t believe your stupidity. You give him a half-hearted glare.

“In my defence, I can’t think of many people who wouldn’t get the hint,” you mutter. Levi clicks his tongue.

“I do not pay attention to such needless things. If one wishes me to know something, they only need to tell it to me straight.”

“And if I had asked you?” you ask with an updrawn eyebrow. You take a sip of your tea. It tastes normal and fine to you, but to Levi’s refined tongue it must be the equivalent of drinking dishwater. You cross your legs and lean against the backrest of the chair.

“I would have taken you. I would not have enjoyed it, but I would have taken you.”

You nod slowly.

“Well, I wanted to see the band there because they’re about to go on hiatus, so I accepted Mr Smith’s invitation.”

“Has he been inviting you for some time before this party?”

The look on your face tells him enough and he groans.

“That guy…” he mutters. “I knew he has a soft spot for you but I never imagined he’d have the nerve to do this behind my back.”

“You knew?” A bit taken aback, you blink.

“It’s sort of obvious,” comes the icy response, and you shrink a little under his strict eyes. You didn’t notice, not until he kissed you.

“Well, while Mr Smith did make his affections quite, erm, _clear_ during the evening by kissing me, that’s the full extent of it, and he’s promised not to pursue me further,” you tell him with a sheepish shrug.

“Is that so?” he asks, his voice suddenly a lot chillier and you wonder why. He glances at the tea but decides against abusing his taste buds by drinking it. Instead, he huffs and licks his lips.

“Well, since I’m suddenly a lot less trusting that you’ll stay available in the long run, I guess it’s for the best for me to make my move now,” he murmurs, mostly to himself.

“And what does that mean?” you ask sceptically.

“Well, you know that I can’t stand people in general. And seeing the disgusting state of your apartment and the fact that you so readily allowed a good-for-nothing geezer like Erwin kiss you make me worried about your capability to function as an adult human being as well as make me less enthusiastic about this-“

“Gee, why thank you, sir,” you drawl and slam your tea mug on the coffee table. He’s unaffected by your glare.

“But while that is the case, I’m aware that the vast majority of women in my range are a lot shallower, need a lot more assurance and expect moonlight serenades and weekend getaways-”

“With all due respect, sir, I think that has more to do with your biased perception,” you point out dryly. Sure, Levi has had gold diggers approach him but it’s not like he’s made an effort to get to know any women outside his narrow work circle, he’s just happily labelled most people he meets according to his own pre-notions.

“No, I know what I’m saying,” Levi disregards and waves his hand lazily. You narrow your eyes, a bit irked by his cocky attitude.

“And what it is you’re saying exactly, sir?”

Levi releases a deep exhale, characteristically stoic but clearly out of his depth. He crosses one leg over the other and gives you a cool, unreadable look.

"I'm saying that, of all the women around me, you're the least insufferable one."

Your answer is polite yet chilly.

"Is that a compliment, _sir_?"

"It's an offer, Assistant. I'm telling you to marry me."

That makes you swallow whatever sassy response you were going to give him and pause your hand mid-air where you were reaching for your teacup.

Your heart suddenly explodes in your chest, you feel your rapid pulse thundering through your body. With wide eyes, you stare at Levi. You’re glad you didn’t grab your tea mug because you would without a doubt have dropped it the second Levi uttered the words.

“You-you want me to marry you?” you ask dumbly, unable to form a coherent comeback yet.

“Yes.”

But you haven’t as much as hugged. Let alone kissed, or had sex or-

“Have you taken a vow of abstinence?” You did not mean to ask that out loud.

Levi looks a bit irked.

“No. I am not uncivilised enough to marry a girl just to lay with her.”

“Then why in the fuck-”

“Language, Ms Reader,” Levi scolds you, though now he looks a little amused by your flabbergasted reaction.

“Sorry, _sir_ ,” you emphasise snarkily. It’s after hours and furthermore, this is your apartment and Levi has just asked you to marry him, you’re not going to apply much of a filter on your mouth. Nonetheless, you take in a long breath and attempt to calm down a little.

“Why do you want to marry me?” you finally ask when your thoughts have stopped stampeding in your brain. You need to approach this methodically to get to the bottom of things. Keep your cool, Reader.

“I told you. You’re the least insufferable person in my close vicinity.”

“And because of that you suddenly want to legally bind yourself to me?” you ask sceptically. He nods. “Fine, then why do you want to marry?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Your reasons being your father.” You’re not dumb enough to think Levi’s father has no part in this. He hums and smiles wryly.

“I can’t deny that. But worry not, I don’t seek to tie you to me permanently. We’ll most likely get divorced fairly soon after, as soon as I’ve dealt with my father.”

You pause. Levi’s words take a moment to register.

This time, instead of shocked albeit girlishly giddy warmth, it’s seeping coldness that washes through you. You feel like you’ve been dumped in a bath full of shattered, prickly ice.

The part of you that was happy to be approached by him, the part that pushed Erwin away, feels trampled. Immediately, you jump to a conclusion. Levi’s just using you, he doesn’t actually feel anything for you.

This is just an arrangement, all of it, you realise. He’s been courting you and wants you to marry him because it’s most convenient to him and he plans on getting rid of you as soon as possible. None of this is about him feeling attached or attracted to you. You’re just a tool. A means to an end.

Well, fuck that. As if you’d let him use you like this.

“Just so you know, leading someone on with the sole purpose of using them is extremely cruel and callous,” you tell him straightforwardly, body shaking with barely held back fury. Fuck calling him sir, fuck being polite about this. You’ve snapped out of the shock and now you’re legitimately angry.

“What do you mean?” Levi asks calmly.

“You don’t care about me. You don’t feel anything for me, you courted me and bought me things and took me out because you wanted me to catch enough feelings for you to marry you. You’re not upset about me going out with Mr Smith because you’re jealous, you’re upset because I’m a tool you want to use that Mr Smith also had his eyes on. I’m just an object for you to use to get your dad off your back.”

Levi frowns. He looks a little confused.

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“Do you love me?” The question sounds like an accusation. Levi thinks it over.

“No,” he finally replies honestly. “I can’t say I have feelings of that strength for you, Assistant.”

“See, so you-”

“ _But_ ,” he cuts you off. Clasping his hands together, he links his fingers and rests them on his lap. He clears his throat, clearly a little uncomfortable, but presses on either way. Your anger has given him enough urgency.

“Even though I cannot tell you clearly what my feelings are at this moment, my gestures have been a sincere effort to get you to like me. I’m not sure what the motive for these gestures has been, myself. I’m… Confused when it comes to you, Assistant,” he admits and looks at you. For the first time ever, you see him even distantly unsure of himself.

“So, while I cannot promise you that I will grow to love you, I don’t want you to think that I have approached you with the sole intention of using you.”

You listen and let him speak.

He’s not lying, you know he’s not the type to. Your anger dies as you hear his honest answer and suddenly, you feel self-conscious about how upset you were about the thought of Levi not liking you as you’ve increasingly come to like him.

“But there’s a risk you won’t come to love me, plus we’ll divorce as soon as we can either way. Why would I agree to this when there’s nothing in it for me?” you remind him, now calmed down.

“I have prepared a contract that guarantees a very generous divorce settlement, you won’t leave empty-handed. I plan on giving you enough to set you up for life.”

This motherfucker. Trying to bribe you.

“Don’t group me with the high-class gold diggers you encounter in parties and matchmaking sites,” you tell him with a chilly tone. “If I decide to marry you, it’ll be for reasons other than money.”

“Even so, I will insist on compensating you in the case of a divorce.”

“In the case of a divorce?” you ask with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you were hellbent on getting divorced as soon as possible.”

“As I said, I can’t guarantee that won’t happen. But the recent developments in our relationship don’t rule out the possibility of basing our union on romantic feelings.”

You pause to decipher his words.

“So, you’re saying that you might fall for me and want to stay married even after you get your father off your back,” you start with a slow, thoughtful tone, “but for now you want to get engaged to me for reasons unrelated to any potential, budding feelings?”

“Exactly. Though, developing strong feelings would shake things up quite a bit.”

“Why are you going to give in to your father’s demands after blowing him off for such a long time?”

Dodging your puzzled gaze, he purses his lips.

“I have no intention of telling you,” he announces. “After the wedding, I might, on a need-to-know basis. But not now.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to and you don’t need to know.”

“You want me to marry you, yet you refuse to as much as tell me why?”

“Yes. All you need to know is that the situation is very urgent,” he announces. You don’t doubt that given how Levi’s about the last person you’d imagine being enthusiastic to marry, but you’re still very confused about the whole situation.

“And I suppose that if I turn you down, you’ll have to find another fiancée?”

“Yes.” He doesn’t look happy about the idea. The observation warms you just a little. You sigh and get up to collect your tea mugs. Yours is empty, Levi’s is full.

“Alright. I’ll think about it.”

“Excellent.” Levi gets up. He watches disapprovingly as you leave the dishes in the sink unattended but you ignore this and walk him to the door.

He pulls on his shoes and his heavy felt coat. He turns to you.

“One more thing, Assistant,” he calls to you and suddenly, he’s placed both forearms on each side of your head, effectively trapping you against the hallway wall. Taken aback, you blink at his serious expression.

“Sir?” you ask. You feel a flutter of nervousness, excitement even.

“I don’t deal well with jealousy, so I’d appreciate it if you declined me properly before going on outings with others. I did not hear about this kiss you had with Erwin, and it makes me very unhappy,” he tells you with a low, dark voice, his stormy eyes twinkling in the dim room.

You swallow as you observe his calm, handsome face that’s mere inches from yours.

You feel the urge to sink your hand into his neat hair, pull him in and kiss him. You want to grab his shoulders, push that coat off him and reel him back into the apartment. You want him to tackle you into the wall just for you to push him into the opposite one as you blindly fumble through your apartment, lips locked in a messy kiss. You want him to pin you down on the bed, you want to look up with lidded eyes to see him towering over you, hair messed up, lips swollen, breathing a bit off and eyes focused and hungry on you as his hand slides under the hem of your dress-

You need to keep yourself in check, you realise as you flinch back to reality. You don’t know when you became this thirsty for Levi, but you have more class than kissing two different people the same night.

Speaking of which, Erwin must have omitted the kiss from the phone call on purpose, he probably thought it’s not worth it since it didn’t lead anywhere, and it would just make things more complicated. Maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned it, either.

Levi keeps his eyes on you and reaches a hand down to grasp your wrist and bring it up to his lips. He presses a small kiss on the bracelet, his eyes purposeful on yours. Your breath gets stuck in your throat and your knees buckle as you watch him, bewitched. The symbolism of his gesture is not lost on you.

He pulls back, satisfied with the impact he had.

“I’m looking forward to your reply, Assistant Reader.”

With that, he’s gone.

With a blink, you slide down the wall until your butt hits the ground. For a long moment, you just sit there, sprawled and confused.

What the hell just happened?

You stare at the wall, digesting the encounter you just had.

Levi proposed to you. For his own reasons which have to do with his father, which he absolutely refuses to let you in on. But he proposed to you. He wants to marry you and he even went as far as saying that he might not want to divorce you if things carry on like this.

“Huh,” you exhale with a blank expression.

The question is, do you want to marry him with these conditions?

You decide that the best place to think about this is in the shower. You get back on your wobbly feet and walk to the wardrobe. You absent-mindedly slip your dress off and place it on a hangar.

You strip naked, throw your undergarments in the laundry basket and walk to the bathroom. You remove your make-up and brush your teeth before slipping into the shower, just to avoid having to do that afterwards.

When the warm spray shoots out and lands on your skin, you let out a long exhale. You needed this.

As you start scrubbing yourself clean, you go things over. You methodically shuffle through the events, starting from Erwin.

He had ulterior motives for inviting you. He kissed you, and you let him. You pushed him away and the first excuse you could give was the Chairman. You mull it over and that, along with the whole range of emotions you felt while Levi was here, from the anger you felt when you thought he was using you, to the lust that washed over you like a tsunami the moment he pinned you down, cement what you already know but chose to ignore: you’re in love with the Chairman.

Or, at least, you’re having a very intense crush on him.

Enough to marry him as a favour?

You pause and frown. There’s no guarantee that Levi will grow to love you, enough to stay married to you after he’s dealt with his father. But then again, even though you like Levi, would you want to marry him for the rest of your life now anyway?

You muse as you rub your head with shampoo and rinse it off.

If you marry him, there are three possible outcomes.

Scenario one: he doesn’t grow to like you, he divorces you and you’re left filthy rich and heartbroken. Scenario two: he grows to like you, but not enough to stay married to you, and he divorces you with the intention of properly dating you first and taking things slow, with the goal of marrying again later, leaving you hopeful and filthy rich. Scenario three: he falls for you and you remain married, and you’ll be Mrs Ackerman long-term. And filthy rich.

If you don’t marry him, you’ll have to watch him betroth someone else. Someone who’s probably just after his money, who possibly won’t put any effort into understanding him or accommodating his eccentrics.

You close your eyes and envision it. A good-looking heiress clinging to the arm of an irritated Levi, sparkling with jewellery from head to toe.

A flare of jealousy takes over you.

She can’t marry him. She doesn’t know how to make his tea just right. She doesn’t know when to steer clear of him and let him fume. She doesn’t know Levi’s weekly routine by heart. She doesn’t know not to play opera around him.

And most of all, she can’t marry him because she’s not you.

You open your eyes with a deep exhale.

The choices here are, realistically, to watch Levi marry someone else or to marry him yourself and hope that things work out.

And if someone’s going to marry that grumpy old man, it might as well be you.

With a resigned sigh, you turn off the water and get out of the shower. You dry yourself thoroughly and slip on some underwear before slumping down on your bed.

You know yourself. If you think too long and deep about this, you’ll freak out and get flustered. You made up your mind, now you need to carry it through. Before you can start rationalising too much and chicken out, you grab your phone and send him a text, cleanly ripping off the figurative bandaid.

_Fine. I’ll do it._

Heart pounding, you watch as Levi comes online almost instantly and checks the message.

_Excellent. You made up your mind quickly, just as I’d expect from you. I’ll meet you in the lobby of my apartment building tomorrow at noon._

No turning back now. You feel something equal parts heavy and fluttery settle in your stomach.

_Alright. Goodnight._

You pause before you can send the message. You’re formally engaged now, right? Do you have to add the _sir_? Then again, you’re still his assistant.

Before you can decide, you’re bombarded by a collection of stickers. You look over them and snort a laugh before quickly taking a screenshot.

_Why do you have a sticker of Vladimir Putin giving a thumbs-up?_

_I don’t know. Hange took my phone and promised to disable the stickers, but instead, they’ve multiplied. She insists she doesn’t know how these ended up here. Ignore them._

Note to self: never let Hange take your phone. And never disable the stickers for Levi. You wouldn’t want to ruin all of Hange’s hard work. You might remove the Vladimir Putin stickers, though, just to make sure Levi doesn’t accidentally send them to Mr Vasiliev, the head of his Russian branch.

You wonder if Levi sent this many stickers by accident because like you, he’s so nervous and jittery his hands are shaking. You doubt it, he’s not the type.

_I took a screenshot, just so you know._

_Rascal._

You smile, and the stickers have broken the ice enough for you to make up your mind.

_I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Levi._

Levi stays online but doesn’t respond for a good minute.

_Goodnight, Frida._

When you close your eyes and drift off to sleep, you feel giddy. But that’s a secret meant only for you and the dust mites Levi insists you’re rearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I am here to pull you up from the cliff and give you the awaited discussion.
> 
> How many of you thought we'd have the summary at this point? Did you think it would happen later? Earlier? Can I have everyone who's shooketh to the left and everyone on team "fucking finally" to the right? And those of you in both camps can come with me for a drink. Either way, I'm dying to know which camp y'all are in so let me know! Also, did I have you in the first half with the whole "he's just using me woe is me" -plotline setup that I swiftly stifled because that would just be too easy? ^^
> 
> I actually sat down today and planned the whole story. Like, chapter by chapter what will happen, as much as I could while leaving room for little additional scenes and tidbits that come forth naturally as the story evolves. And well... If you think the plot is now done that they're engaged, you are #wrong. It's been a WHILE since I've been this pumped about the plot of anything I'm writing and I can't wait to see your reaction to the story I have planned.
> 
> This chapter kind of concludes Phase 1 of the story, which was mostly setup and organic growth of feelings between the characters, plus planting the seeds of the actual plot. Phase 2 will be chapters 8-12, Phase 3 is composed of chapters 13 to 18 and Phase 4 includes chapters 19 and 20 (these are subject to change if I decide to add more chapters etc.). We'll see how it turns out, but this is easily going to be the most plot-heavy and dramatic story I've written for this fandom :D
> 
> I love comments and they keep me going. I always read and reply to every comment I receive and they fill me with gratitude, so if you have a moment, please consider rewarding your humble author with your thoughts! :)
> 
> Also, I made the Tumblr blog I mentioned last time. In the blog, I'll be posting ficlets and drabbles that don't warrant their own publication here on AO3, as well as write out prompts by you guys for scenarios and headcanons, not only of Levi but basically anyone in AoT of your liking. Feel free to follow, drop requests or just send me an ask or PM rambling about whatever you like, I'm always up for talking to my readers! [Here](https://heichoudaddery.tumblr.com/)'s a link. I hope to see you there!


	8. Rhubarb Hibiscus

When you twitch awake not six hours later, you feel like you’ve been run over by a land roller. You must have dreamt of _her_ again.

As always when you wake up after a nightmare about your mother, the surge of dizzy-headed nausea that shoots through your body the second you open your curtains is much worse than usual.

You take in a deep breath and try to hinder your soaring pulse.

“Alexa, play _C’est Si Bon_ by Eartha Kitt,” you order. When the cheerful music starts streaming through the speakers, you feel a little better.

You hum along as you wander to the bathroom and brush your teeth, doing your best to shove the unpleasant feeling down and ignore it. You wonder what your mother would say if she saw you get engaged to a blunt billionaire.

Speaking of which, you’ll need to send your dad a text about it at some point.

You were never _that_ close with your father. You were a divorce kid and your father was always more occupied with his new wife and kids than you. You were brought up by your mother and after she passed, you lived with your grandmother.

Levi told you to meet him at noon, and it’s hardly nine yet. You decide to make some coffee yourself instead of going to _Konrad’s_ , as much as you dislike filtered coffee.

You sit down with some toast and a steaming hot mug a dozen minutes later and stare out absent-mindedly as you eat.

It’s only now truly sinking in that you agreed to marry Levi. You’re really going to tie the knot and legally bind yourself to that grumpy, eccentric old man.

A feeling of nerve-wracking apprehension settles over you.

“What am I doing?” you ask your empty apartment as you place your face into your hand.

You wallow in apprehensive dread for a moment, entertaining the side of you that says that this will not work out and you’re making a mistake, not to mention forever labelling yourself as a gold digger in the eyes of everyone around you.

But, you remind yourself, what’s done is done, and you’re too stubborn to back down now.

You eat breakfast in peace and afterwards focus on some mindless renovation reality shows on TV that the whole nation seems unnaturally fond of at the moment. But it keeps your mind off things until it’s time to leave and you even get moderately invested in whether Jan and Günter manage to renovate their apartment in two weeks and sell it for much more than it was initially worth.

When the clock strikes eleven, you switch into a pair of skinny jeans and a loose green T-shirt. You put on a layer of very natural make-up and tie your hair up on a messy bun.

If Levi truly wants to marry you, he’ll have to get used to how you dress outside of work.

Instead of heels, you pull on a pair of tennis shoes and grab your bag.

It’s a couple of minutes past noon when you step into Levi’s apartment building. Finding a parking spot downtown is challenging.

The lobby of this apartment complex is just as luxurious as the exterior. Wide, bright and spotless, your eyes slide over the large room.

There are a couple of benches at the sides, layered with satin. Two security guards are standing by the door, and they give you a light, sceptical frown as you pass them. You don’t look remotely rich enough to have any business here.

There is a reception desk where guests are supposed to report to in hopes of gaining access to the elevator. You see a few suited residents walk right past the young male receptionist to the elevators and instead merely swipe their key cards to get the golden doors to open.

You immediately spot Levi, who’s leaning against the wall next to the elevators. He, to your surprise, is also wearing his leisurely clothes. A new pair of jeans and a grey T-shirt on him, he looks over your relaxed attire and crosses his arms as you walk up to him.

“You’re late.” He waves off the security guards who are still following you with their wary eyes.

“I struggled with finding a parking spot, they’re really sparse in this part of town,” you explain. He doesn’t comment on your outfit but instead, merely starts walking to the elevators.

He opens the elevator door with his key card and ushers you inside despite your surprised expression. You thought you’d go to one of the conference rooms you know for a fact this building has. Instead, Levi picks the top floor.

“Where are we going?” Your voice is clearly suspicious.

“Where else but my place?” comes the impatient reply.

You’ve obviously never been to Levi’s apartment. As a mere employee, it was strictly off-limits. Now, however, as his fiancée…

Is he taking you upstairs because he wants privacy to _get it on_? Or does he just want privacy, period?

You take a nervous breath. If he pushes you into a wall and starts tossing your clothes off the second the door closes after you, what will you do?

Well, you _did_ shave recently and you showered right before sleep so-

Wait, that’s not the problem here, you scold your brain. But it’s not like you can deny that you would, most likely, let him take you to bed. With your budding feelings and newly established engagement. If anything, you’re quite eager to get a test ride.

The elevator door opens with a _ding_ and, to your astonishment, you’re greeted by Levi’s hallway.

He escorts you inside and takes off his shoes.

“You can leave your shoes and jacket here,” he tells you nonchalantly. You gape a little.

“Wait, your apartment consists of the _whole_ top floor?” you ask, equal parts impressed and horrified.

“I don’t like dealing with neighbours.”

“So you bought the _whole floor?!_ ” you hiss.

Levi saunters inside, ignoring you. As you take your shoes and jacket off, you look around. The hallway is large, with cherrywood parquet floor and a large closet on one wall, concealed by mirror doors. On the opposite wall, there’s a leather armchair and a small wooden table. Above them, there’s a painting of a petite, lanky woman with large, sunken eyes and raven hair. It looks like a portrait of someone.

You slide one of the mirror doors aside to find a free hanger. Inside, you see an endless supply of coats and jackets, neatly arranged and clearly regularly maintained.

You slip your jacket on one of the wooden hangers and hang it on the very end of one of the coat racks to avoid messing up Levi’s carefully organized closet.

You glance at yourself in the mirror and you look way out of place in such a glorious environment. Despite that, you take a deep breath and march inside, to the long corridor ahead of you. The walls are painted pearly white and have a few abstract paintings hung up here and there. The contrast between the light walls and the dark wood floor is very aesthetically pleasing,

Most of the neatly polished cherrywood doors you walk past are closed but you surmise one of them is probably Levi’s bedroom, one is his office, one is probably dedicated to cleaning supplies-

“Here, Frida.”

You jolt visibly at the name. Are you on a permanent first-name basis now? You fight down the crimson threatening to raise to your cheeks and follow his voice. You see one door that’s cracked open and can’t resist the temptation to extend your neck and peek inside.

It turns out to be a mini gym, with numerous stylish-looking exercise machines situated along the walls. The wall opposite from yours is entirely made of glass, and you notice that the treadmill is situated right next to it. Levi must like his heights. Lucky him.

You arrive at a large combined kitchen and living room. It’s so large it could probably fit your whole apartment in it twice or thrice. The living area is squeaky clean and oozing the kind of rich and luxurious energy that permanently surrounds every aspect of Levi’s life.

There are three leather couches arranged corner to corner and in the middle of them is a glass table with nothing on it but a huge stack of documents. On the wall, there is a huge television that probably, knowing Levi, goes largely unused.

You glance at the few statues and plants placed around the room to make it more ornate. You’re glad to notice that only one wall of this room is made of glass, the one next to the huge twelve-seater dining table.

The kitchen is just as clean and extravagant as the rest of the apartment. The first thing that catches your eye is the enormous, stainless steel fridge. The countertops look to be made of marble and they’re filled with all sorts of gadgets and machines.

Your eye pauses to longingly look at the espresso machine sitting on one of the counters. You know that model to be good, albeit very pricey.

Levi’s brewing himself some tea by the stovetop.

“Go sit down at the dining table,” he tells you without turning. You nod even though he can’t see you and take a seat on one of the heavy wooden chairs.

You look out of the wall and instantly shudder. With a split-second decision, you switch seats so that your back is turned to the glass.

Levi walks to you with a crystal coaster in each hand. He places them down, saunters back to the kitchen and comes back with two steaming hot mugs.

He sets a delicious-smelling cup of latte in front of you. You lean in and take a deep whiff just to give Levi an astonished look.

“Is this Hacienda La Esmeralda?”

“It’s the only coffee I allow my taste buds to be subjected to. The rest taste revolting.”

You breathe in the scent once more and you feel your mouth water at the rich and gentle aroma. You’re surprised Levi even knows how to make coffee with an espresso machine. Then again, he doesn’t strike you as the kind of guy who has his meals and drinks made for him outside of work.

He sips on his Rhubarb Hibiscus tea and turns to give you a calm look.

“So, what do you think?” he asks.

“Of what?”

“The apartment. If you want to change something, I’m willing to listen.”

You blink and it takes a moment to connect the dots.

“You invited me to have this meeting in your apartment because you wanted to know if I want to change the furniture or aesthetic to be more to my liking before I marry you and move in?” you guess. His expression tells you you’re right.

“So, you want to go through with this marriage rather soon, I assume?“

“Yes. I haven’t figured out the details yet, but I need to get married in the very near future. I’ll let you know when the schedule has been cemented,” Levi replies.

“And when do you want me to move in?”

“I was thinking after the wedding, but if you’re eager-”

“It’s rather alright. After the wedding works,” you interrupt.

“Alright, then. Let’s get started.” He gets up and walks to the coffee table.

“With what?”

“The paperwork.”

A tall pile of papers is dropped in front of you with a heavy _wham_. You look over the mountain of documents with wide eyes.

“What are these?”

“The contracts I’ll need you to sign prior to me formally choosing you as my fiancée.”

“Contracts?!” you hiss incredulously. This son of a gun.

“Yes. There are terms for our marriage, a few non-disclosure agreements, a proposal for settlement in case of divorce…”

You bury your head in your hands and let out a sound that’s half-chuckle, half-wheeze. You should have known Levi isn’t just going to marry you and that’s that. Of course, he must treat it as a business proposal.

With a long-suffering sigh, you start going through the papers.

The NDAs are easy to shuffle through, they contain nothing that wouldn’t be dictated by common sense. Don’t go blabbering to people that you’re marrying because of Levi’s father. Don’t disclose details about Levi’s personal life to the media. Don’t leak any potential business secrets you fumble across while living with him.

“I want to add clauses that allow me to break this non-disclosure contract in case of abuse or other charges,” you tell Levi. He cocks up an eyebrow.

“I don’t plan on abusing you and I can’t keep you from going to the police with this contract, but alright.”

He takes the paper from your hand and scribbles something down as a footnote. You move on to the divorce settlement he’s crafted. It is very generous and the only condition for earning it is to stay married to Levi for a minimum of three months unless staying married would pose a _“severe threat to the physical and/or mental wellbeing of either party”_.

Under Levi’s hawk-like eyes, you sign both the NDA and the divorce settlement with no qualms. You’re not worried about those. It’s the document titled _“Terms of Marriage”_ you’re wary of.

You look over it and already feel a headache.

Now, not a lot of it is surprising per se. You were anticipating that Levi wants a maid to come by every day, expects dishes to be done within thirty minutes of finishing a meal, wants you to order a dry clean on both your clothes and your car every fortnight, explicitly bans playing opera inside the house…

You sigh.

“Okay, first off, I want laxer rules on cleaning. I can do the thirty minutes after a meal -rule for dishes that can be loaded in the dishwasher but I want at least two hours to wash pans and kettles and everything else that requires washing by hand.”

Levi’s eyes narrow unhappily.

“One hour.”

“One and a half.”

“Fine.”

You fix it on the papers.

“Secondly, I want Sundays off from the maid and on Saturday, I want them to come at noon instead of 8 a.m.”

Levi grumbles and you can see the figurative storm cloud forming over his head.

“This is my home as well and I’m willing to put up with a lot, but I’m not going to be woken up at 8 a.m. every weekend by the maid.”

“You mean you plan on sleeping past 8 a.m. during weekends?” he asks, a little scandalised.

“I sure do.”

Levi thinks it over and groans.

“Fine.”

With a smile, you fix the text. As for the rest, you don’t mind having your clothes and car dry cleaned and you were never a fan of opera. The rest, you can live with.

“Alright, time for my own terms,” you say and crack your fingers. Levi’s eyes flash and he leans back on his seat with crossed arms, clearly intrigued.

“First off, I want a room all to myself. That room will be off-limits to maids and all servants you have unless I explicitly ask them to come in,” you start listing. “And you are not allowed to complain about how messy my room is.” You want some privacy. A woman cave, if you will.

He shrugs.

“If you want to keep rearing those dust mites of yours, I’m only glad you’re doing it in an enclosed space.”

“Secondly, I don’t want you to wake me up during the weekends. Ever. Even if sleep until evening, leave me be. I like sleeping.”

“If you insist on being a slob, that’s not any concern of mine.”

You’re pleased by how nicely he’s agreeing to your demands. You add your conditions in and sign the papers before handing them to Levi.

Levi looks over them one last time and then signs all of them. He hands you your copies and keeps one set to himself. His eyes slide to your signature and he smirks to himself a little.

“What’s so funny?” you ask and narrow your eyes.

“Nothing. I’m just pleasantly surprised you’re not brainless enough to marry me entirely on my terms.”

“I told you not to group me with the gold diggers you’ve encountered so far.” Those gold diggers would without a doubt have agreed to whatever Levi was demanding, blinded by the bountiful divorce settlement.

Levi snorts and gets up.

“Alright. I believe that’s all. What’s left is some practical matters.”

He walks off to what you surmise is his office. You have no doubt he’s going to religiously preserve the contracts just like he does all papers he receives, from grocery receipts to million-dollar business deals. You fold your copies and slip them in your bag.

When Levi walks back, he’s contract-free but there’s something on his hand. It’s a large metal hoop that has a dozen different, small rings hanging from it. You realise it’s a tool to measure your finger size and suddenly, your pulse quickens. Already, he’s thinking about the ring?

He walks to you and gently grabs your left hand. He slips the rings into your finger until he finds one that’s just right. He pulls back, holding the ring that fit, and takes a look at the number.

“Your fingers are thicker than I expected,” comes the blunt observation.

“Do you want to die?” you ask, unimpressed. To your surprise, he actually chuckles and pats your head as he takes out his phone and writes down your size. The touch, albeit sudden and unexpected, makes you oddly happy. It brings some intimacy to this impersonal situation.

He then hands you a key card that grants you access both to the apartment complex’s underground parking area as well as the elevator and his floor. It’s the equivalent of him giving you the keys to his flat and the meaning doesn’t go unnoticed by you.

It makes you happy. Not that you plan on barging here often.

“Alright. This is all. You came by car, so I suppose you won’t need me to take you home,” Levi guesses.

You’re taken aback by the abrupt closure.

“You- you mean all you were planning for today was to sign documents and measure my ring size?”

You watch Levi and feel a strange sense of… Disappointment? Obviously, you’ve moved straight from awkward courting to engagement so you’re not completely comfortable around each other yet but still, you’d like for _something_ to happen. Even hanging out if a hug or a kiss is too much for Levi at this point.

But you know Levi’s probably too matter-of-fact to realise this.

“Were you expecting something else?” Levi asks and draws up an eyebrow. You can’t tell if he’s genuinely puzzled or just seeing how far he can push you. Then again, he’s very thick when it comes to these kinds of things, so you wouldn’t be surprised if he truly doesn’t know what you’re hoping for.

“No, it’s fine,” you hum and get up. “I’m sure you’re busy, I don’t want to keep you too long.” There’s a subtle, suggestive tint to your overtly light tone, but you doubt he catches it.

You walk down the hallway to the door and you’ve already pulled your jacket on halfway when the light bulb suddenly comes on above Levi’s head.

“Frida,” he calls to you and when you turn, you see him standing in the doorway of the living room, arms crossed and a gauging expression on his face. Hearing your name from his lips makes your stomach flutter just a bit.

“I’m just about to make lunch. Do you want some?”

You pause. Slowly, a smile creeps to your face.

Well, maybe you underestimated Levi. Maybe he’s learning, slowly but surely.

-

The moment you step inside the Ackerman Corporation’s office building on Monday, you can tell something’s up. The whole place is bustling with curious buzzing and whispers, starting from the receptionist and security guards.

You feel inquiring gazes directed towards you and a few female co-workers from the seventh floor give each other meaningful glances as they get on the elevator with you. When they get off, they hardly wait until they’re a few steps away before they start their feverish whispering.

“See? It isn’t her! Her finger is bare!”

“That’s surprising, I was so sure it would be her. Then who do you think-?”

You don’t hear the rest of it as the elevator doors slam shut and you continue your journey to the top floor. You can only guess what they’re talking about, and as soon as you arrive at the top floor, you march to your office, chuck your jacket and bag on the desk and make your way through Levi’s door.

He’s writing something on his computer and doesn’t as much as detach his eyes from the screen as you walk up to him purposefully. One look at his hands tells you exactly what you need to know; there’s a thin platinum ring on his ring finger.

“What are you doing?” you ask sharply. He stops typing to give you a blank look.

“I believe we are at work,” he tells you, though it’s clear he’s unconcerned about that and merely being a prick.

“Fine. What are you doing, _sir?_ ” you correct. He crosses his legs and shows you his left hand.

“You mean this?”

You nod. He shrugs.

“We’re engaged, so I’m wearing an engagement ring. That’s all there is to it.”

“The whole building is gossiping about it.”

“That is alarming, I’ll need to remind them of our productivity goals-”

“That is not the issue. They think you’re engaged to me!” you growl, exasperated. “…Sir,” you properly add at the end, your tone seeping ice.

Levi blinks and then a quizzical expression creeps on his face.

“You _are_ engaged to me, Assistant Reader,” he points out. Thank God he doesn’t call you Frida during work hours. You’re not ready to have that battle today.

“I am, but they don’t need to-”

Levi’s not even listening, he leans down and opens one of his drawers. You notice that the box for the bracelet he tried to give you is still there. He pulls out a smaller container and hands it to you. You don’t need to open it to know what’s inside.

“Let me guess: this is not a silver ring that cost less than 100 euros is it?” you state blandly.

“Of course it’s not,” Levi scoffs.

You squeeze your eyes shut and open the box.

After taking a calming breath, you crack one eye open to steal a peek like you’re watching a horror movie instead of receiving your engagement ring.

It’s white-gold with a very simple design. Sitting on top is a beautifully clear and perfectly cut marquise-shaped diamond. It’s very tasteful and you can’t help the small adoring squeal that leaves your lips. It’s gorgeous.

You quickly gain a hold of yourself and shake your head violently. You’re not here to gush about the ring.

“Now listen here-” you start, but Levi’s not listening. He takes the box, unapologetically grabs your left hand and gives the silver bracelet on your wrist a small look. Then, he takes the ring and slips it on your ring finger with a focused expression.

It’s snug but not too tight. A perfect fit.

He pauses and looks at the ring with an insufferably self-congratulatory look on his face. He’s clearly happy about how impeccable his taste is. And he’s not wrong to be, that is a gorgeous, gorgeous ring-

 _Frida Reader!_ you mentally bellow at yourself. This is not a time to gush about this wonderful… This beautiful, brightly glistening diamond ring that looks so elegant and effortless on your finger…

You sigh deeply, frustrated with yourself, and gently pry your hand away from Levi’s hold. With firm resolution, you pull the ring off and put it back in its box.

“You don’t like it?” The question is cocky, Levi already knows the answer.

“It’s not that. I just… I want to remain professional at work,” you explain and try to keep your eyes from longingly wandering to the box. “There are already rumours circulating about us and the whole building is just aching to find out who you’re engaged to. And I don’t want to be involved in that mill of hearsay. So, I’d like to request permission to not wear my ring at work.”

Levi mulls it over.

“It would make me feel more at ease and happy,” you add and give him a sincere smile. “I’m glad you’re wearing yours and I promise I’ll wear mine outside of work but here, let me keep my privacy.“

Once he agrees, you can start arguing about the egregious price tag that ring without a doubt had and how you’d prefer something a bit more commoner-like. Just so you don’t feel like you need to walk around with armed guards wherever you go because stealing the ring would be the equivalent of robbing a small bank.

“Alright,” Levi sighs. “With one condition.”

“Thank you. What is the condition?”

“You accept that ring without qualms.”

This sly little snake. You walked right into that one.

“Fine,” you breathe through your teeth. He turns back to his work with a smug smirk.

“I believe Dot Pixis will be here any minute. You should return to your office and admit him in, Assistant Reader. After that, you can make both of us some morning tea.”

You grab the box and pocket it.

“Yes, _sir_.”

When you get off work that evening, you get in your car and blow a long raspberry. You take the box out and open it just to admire the ring for a precious moment. You try to keep yourself from feeling all sorts of giddy when you put it on and start the car.

Levi wasted no time making it official, huh.

You drive through the city with an idle kind of look on your face.

Frida Reader, an engaged woman.

You never thought you’d see the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was bored today so here, have a chapter. I was debating whether I should post this as soon as it's ready or sit on it for a while to avoid reader fatigue. I've been updating very frequently so without a doubt, you'll grow tired of reading at some point, right?
> 
> Nonetheless, I decided to post it here anyway since I figured that those of you who get fatigued can read at their convenience and those who want to keep reading a chapter every few days can do so. Win-win, woo.
> 
> Btw, I used a website to make [exactly the kind of ring](https://i.imgur.com/NV9CFLA.png) I imagined Levi to give reader and the [price tag](https://i.imgur.com/rFiwBh7.png) for it turned out to be quite eye-popping. So, uh, yeah, Reader, take good care of that ring will ya?
> 
> Also, I wrote a side story for this fic on Tumblr as per requested, of when Levi went to buy the silver bracelet for Reader. If you want to see it, [HERE](https://heichoudaddery.tumblr.com/post/187214323578/of-tea-and-high-buildings-a-side-story-levi-x). And if you want to stay tuned or drop prompts of your own, feel free to follow that blog. So far, I've among others written 1000+ word fics of Levi and Reader in a [Victorian setting](https://heichoudaddery.tumblr.com/post/187134014993/levi-x-reader-victorian-au-requested-scenario) as well as [mafia!Levi x heiress!Reader](https://heichoudaddery.tumblr.com/post/187218035678/could-you-write-a-smut-of-levi-as-a-mafia-member) (both of which are shameless smut because request people be horny and that's absolutely wonderful, I love it).
> 
> That's all for now. Comments are, as always, dearly loved and read with a big smile and sometimes even with eyes moved to tears because I'm not used to people caring about anything I do and hearing that my work means something to someone is beyond wonderful.


	9. Cinnamon Oolong

The days leading up to the business conference go by in mostly a daze and before you realise it, it’s only a handful of nights before it’s time to leave.

If you said you’re not nervous, you would be lying. It is, after all, a trip you’ll take alone with the Chairman. The first time you go abroad with your boss – and fiancé.

The buzz about Levi’s engagement ring dies down eventually, albeit very slowly. The speculation about who he’s betrothed is the hot topic during coffee breaks, and you’ve had more than one curious gossiper come to ask you if you know anything about it.

You dodge those questions by matter-of-factly telling whoever’s asking that you’re not allowed to disclose anything about the Chairman’s personal life.

So far, no one’s gathered the nerves to ask Levi himself. You wonder what he’d say if someone did. When you realise Levi would probably tell the truth, you make him promise not to tell anyone he’s not personally invested with.

Lately, Dot Pixis has spent a lot of time in Levi’s office. You can only surmise what it’s about, but your best guess is that it’s related to the charges pressed against Kenny Ackerman. The media has been quiet about it, most likely for the lack of further information as the police have kept everything under the wraps and neither Kenny nor the person whose property he illegally entered has reached out to the media.

Before you realise it, it’s already the week you’re bound to leave. On Sunday, you’ll catch an overnight flight. In the midst of preparing for the five-day trip, there isn’t a lot of time to spend together with Levi.

Once, he’s asked you to join him for lunch. It’s not unheard of for you to eat with him when you have some business that needs attending to, but that time it was obviously different. Even if most of that lunch was spent talking about the upcoming trip. You still appreciate that he tries to be mindful of you and spend time together.

Despite this, the more time passes after your engagement and the more time you spend with the Chairman, the more you wish _something_ would happen.

Now that you’re no longer trying to pretend like you don’t have the hots for your boss, you find yourself wishing for some physical closeness. You don’t expect gifts and serenades or cooing words, but you’d like a hug or a kiss.

Or heaven forbid, sex.

With the introduction of Levi to your private life, it’s only now dawning on you how long it’s been since you’ve gotten laid. After you started working as Levi’s assistant, your work schedule has been so tight you haven’t had time to fit dating into the scene.

It’s been a while since you’ve done anything of sexual nature with anyone.

And it’s starting to grate on you just a bit. To put it bluntly and very vulgarly, you’d like to get a good dicking sooner rather than later.

You wonder if Levi thinks about it at all as you walk down the corridor Wednesday morning, carrying his morning tea towards his office.

Obviously, Levi hasn’t had any partners while you’ve been working for him. You ponder if he’s virgin or if he’s had at least _some_ experience.

 _Does he as much as jerk off?_ you idly muse but quickly shake your head. That’s none of your business.

 _But_ , you think and pause in the middle of your office just as you’re walking across it. If Levi has zero interest in that side of dating, what will you do?

Asexuality is a thing. Some people just don’t want to have sex. If Levi turns out to be one of those people, how will you react? So far, he’s shown no signs of as much as wanting to kiss you.

You’re extremely absent-minded as you pour Levi his tea, something he obviously catches on to.

“What?”

His blunt question makes you twitch a little. You glance at him and briefly entertain the idea of just asking him if he wants to fuck you.

But if he says no, then what? His reaction to Erwin kissing you tells you enough about how he’d react were you go to someone else for sexual fulfilment. Are you doomed to relying on your right hand for the foreseeable future?

You look at Levi with a puzzled expression and set the pot of Cinnamon Oolong tea down on his desk.

On impulse, you reach a hand towards Levi. Now that you mention it, you haven’t initiated any kind of physical contact with Levi ever since that one time you fixed his tie.

You bring your hand close to his hair but stop a few centimetres short. He blinks at you, a little wary, but doesn’t pull away or try to stop you.

“Sir,” you start slowly. “As your fiancée, am I allowed to touch you?”

He blinks again.

“Why wouldn’t you?” It’s one of those questions he wants a sincere answer to.

“Well, you seem like the type to hate being touched.”

“Only by people I don’t like. And I don’t like most people.”

“But am _I_ allowed to touch you?”

“Me betrothing you would be a strong indicator that I don’t dislike you, Assistant,” he points out dully.

Encouraged by this, you slowly place your hand on his head. His hair is silky soft under your touch, so much so that you feel a strong urge to sink your whole hand into it.

You don’t; instead, you brush your fingers down to his soft cheek, gaze focused on your hand and decisively avoiding his eyes.

He lets you touch him without kicking up a fuss. When you finally have the courage to steal a peek at his eyes, you notice he’s watching right back at you with clear intrigue.

“Enjoying touching my cheek?” he asks, and you’re not sure if you’re imagining it but it sounds like there’s certain seductiveness to his tone.

You don’t answer. Instead, you trail your fingers across his cheek to his jaw. It’s prominent and sturdy, clearly defined under his skin. Levi’s eyes turn thoughtful as you pause your hand. It’s the first time you’ve come this close to him on purpose, and you feel your skin prickling with the sudden desire to be touched. Despite the fact that it’s 9 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and you’re both at work.

The simple touch has flared up your whole body, and you’re sorely tempted to lean down and kiss him.

He seems to be thinking along the same lines because his eyes flicker to your lips and you suddenly feel a demanding hand on your waist.

He yanks you in, a move you weren’t expecting. You lose your balance, your ankles buckle thanks to your heels and you topple on top of him with a yelp.

His chair squeaks and he quickly throws his other arm around you to stabilise you. You slump on top of his chest, the balls of your feet digging into the floor as you’re awkwardly balancing your body half off the chair, your knees bent and hands grabbing the armrest to keep you from pressing your full weight against him.

You briefly note that he smells gorgeous, with a mixture of fruity shampoo, musky aftershave and surprisingly fresh-smelling cologne, before you pull away and quickly get on your feet. You adjust your shirt and skirt and give him an embarrassed frown.

“You have horrible balance,” Levi points out with a raised eyebrow. He looks kind of smug and very unbothered about the fact that you practically crashed on top of his chest.

“Why did you yank me in like that unannounced?” you ask and cross your arms.

“You looked like you were aching for some cosiness.”

“Does that mean you only did it because you thought I wanted it?” you quip back, concealing an authentic concern under the snarky tone.

Levi shrugs and takes his teacup. He turns to his computer and starts going through his e-mails. You look at him with a confused expression. That’s it? He’s not going to pull you in again?

It would be very unprofessional conduct and you would probably scold him for trying to kiss you during work hours, but still. Since when has he cared? He could at least try, you think childishly.

“What?” he asks flatly without raising his gaze.

“Nothing, sir,” you mutter, visibly dejected, and turn on your heel to get out of Levi’s office.

You sigh deeply as you sit down at your desk. You lean back on your chair and lazily twirl around, thinking over what just happened.

Did Levi pull you in just because he surmised you’re expecting it? Was he going to kiss you or just hold you close? Does he feel the urge to touch you at all when it’s not necessary? Does he feel the urge to touch anyone in general?

You take out your cell phone from your bag and look over it with a thoughtful pout, an idea popping in your head.

You don’t think you can ask Levi straight without it resulting in a horribly awkward conversation. Especially if he turns out to be asexual. You can almost imagine his matter-of-fact reply.

_“Personally, Assistant, I find genitals revolting and prefer not to go near them. However, if that is something you sorely need, I’m willing to draft a contract about how often you expect us to fornicate. Please write down what you wish for me to perform on you and we can start negotiations-”_

You shudder. You don’t want to have that discussion. Thus, you make up your mind and send Erwin Smith a text. He, if anyone, knows if Levi is interested in that side of dating. Surely Levi and Erwin must have had some bro talk about boobs and butts at some point during their college years. Even if you can’t honestly imagine it at all. At the most, you can imagine Erwin making a vulgar comment and Levi giving him a revolted look in return.

A few minutes later, you get a text back from Erwin. He seems eager to accept your request for a chat and tells you he’ll be waiting in the cafeteria of the IntelAcc offices at 6 p.m. today.

-

The IntelAcc offices are a walking distance away from Ackerman Corp., both being situated in the middle of the busy, high-end business district. You blend right in the masses with your sharp work attire, as the majority of pedestrians consist of men in suits and women in skirts and heels.

The IntelAcc building is almost as large as the Ackerman Corporation’s office. It’s just as luxurious, with a wide, brightly lit lobby, elevators with golden doors and more security guards than you can count with two hands.

You know your way around the building thanks to a few visits you’ve made here with the Chairman. You take the elevator to the sixth floor and come out to the sight of a spiffy but mostly empty cafeteria.

The lunch line is already closed as it’s nearing evening, but the small counter that sells refreshments is still in operation. You spot Erwin and wince a little when you realise he’s sitting at a table that’s right next to the large glass wall. Why do skyscrapers like glass walls?

You order a decaf mocha latte and walk up to Erwin.

“Mr Smith,” you greet with a small smile as you take off your jacket. You sit down on the heavy leather-covered armchair and cross your legs. You turn the chair a bit so that your back is mostly turned to the wall and hope Erwin doesn’t notice.

“Ms Reader,” comes the answer, just as gentle and well-meaning as always. He eyes you over his Americano and smiles. “Once again, my apologies for last time. I had no idea-”

“It’s quite alright,” you hurry to reassure.

“Levi called me the following day and he was not happy about me approaching you with romantic intentions. I assume you let him in on the kiss we shared.”

You grimace.

“Sorry.”

“Oh no, it’s not an issue. I deserved to get chewed out for that,” Erwin laughs. He places his elbows on the table, leans his chin against his linked hands and watches you curiously. “So, what did you want to discuss?”

“I assume you didn’t know that the Chairman had his eyes on me.”

“I had a faint hunch, but I assumed it was not quite as serious as it turned out to be.”

You sigh and lean down to take something from your bag. When you get back up, you show him the ring you just slipped on your finger.

You expect Erwin to be shocked, but instead, all you get in response is a very relaxed hum.

“I see. Well, he never struck me as the type to drag things out.”

“He proposed to me because of his father. I don’t know the specifics but I know that much.”

“Ah, yes. Mr Dietrich.” Erwin looks calm, albeit his expression turns a little stony. “I wouldn’t put it beneath him.”

He reads your curious and puzzled expression loud and clear and speaks up before you have time to ask.

“I won’t tell you the specifics about Levi’s circumstances. As I said earlier, I don’t feel like it’s my place to tell you things he so dearly wishes to keep from you.”

You close your mouth, a little disappointed. But you understand the sentiment. Levi is very private and he would be upset if Erwin went and told you things behind his back that he’s deliberately trying to keep from you.

“But,” Erwin holds out his finger. “I will tell you this, in the name of your own well-being. Stay on guard around Levi’s father. Mr Dietrich is very good at getting his way.”

His words leave you a little confused.

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“I just want you to keep your eyes and ears open when you’re with him.”

That seems like the extent to which Erwin is willing to discuss this. Despite this, you decide to take his advice to heart. Not that you spend time with Mr Dietrich, to begin with, but both Erwin and Levi have now told you to keep your distance to him. You’d be a fool to disregard it. And for whatever reason, Levi’s father has managed to force Levi to get engaged. That, if anything, is a red flag worth noting.

“How are things between you and Levi?” Erwin asks, and you suddenly remember why you asked him to see you in the first place. You’re here to inquire whether or not Levi feels any desire to have sex with people. As uncomfortable as that makes you.

“Well, truth be told, I’ve been… Quite puzzled. I’ve spent time with the Chairman, he takes me out sometimes, we’re now officially engaged, but… We haven’t actually, erm, _done_ anything.”

“Done anything,” he repeats calmly and raises an eyebrow. “You mean, as in physical things romantically involved people normally do?”

You nod awkwardly. You’re glad Erwin caught on immediately. He thinks it over and nods.

“Well, seeing his reaction to your little outing with me, and the fact that he proposed to you in the first place, I think it’s safe to say he likes you quite a bit.”

“Maybe he’s not interested in doing that in the first place,” you murmur with a faint blush. He frowns and turns his eyes to his coffee. You’re immensely grateful that he’s discussing this with you in such an open but non-intrusive way.

“Well, I know for a fact that he has – or at least used to have – very normal drive for such things. He did hook up with women of our faculty at times. He was very picky and didn’t seriously date anyone, but when a lady he liked enough appeared, he would engage in casual fun.”

You nod, your gaze glued to your hands.

“Then I wonder why he hasn’t done anything with me,” you confess with a wince.

“He is… Rather oblivious. My guess is that he’s not opposed, he just hasn’t caught on to the fact that you’re hoping for it. The women I’ve seen him with made a considerable push to make their desire known.”

“So you’re saying that I should blatantly throw myself at him?” you ask sceptically.

“Perhaps.”

You look up, just to see Erwin’s eyes glinting with barely held back amusement. You squint with growing suspicion.

“You’re not telling me this just because you want to see what will happen if I throw myself at the Chairman are you?”

Erwin laughs then. He throws his head back and you see his Adam’s apple move in rhythm with his deep, hearty laughter.

“You caught me. But I’m not lying to you, Ms Reader.”

“Then how-”

Interrupting you, your phone starts ringing in your pocket. You pull it out just to see it’s Levi. With a sigh, you reply. He probably wants you to do some work for him.

“Sir?”

“Where are you?” comes the immediate question. “Your car is still here but you’re nowhere to be found. I need you to look over the hotel arrangements for the trip.”

You sigh.

“I’m away on personal business. I can return to the office afterwards if you insist on having those arrangements checked today.”

“Away on what business?”

You glance at Erwin and wonder what to do. Then again, lying about it won’t do you any good and Erwin would probably let him know at some point anyway since he’s so hellbent on honouring the bro code. And the more secretive you are about things like these, the more suspicious you’ll appear.

It’s not like you’re doing anything wrong. You and Erwin have settled whatever brief romantic tension there was and Erwin has told you he has no urge to keep approaching you with romantic intentions.

He’s just eager to help you and Levi to have a better functioning relationship. Partially because he’s Levi’s friend and because he likes you, but partially also because it’s the most entertaining thing he’s seen in years.

“I’m at IntelAcc,” you finally confess.

“Why?” His response is sharp and instantaneous. You hear him open and close a door and after that, you hear his footsteps in the background.

“I’m discussing something personal with Mr Smith,” you reply honestly.

“And what is that?” He sounds suspicious. You glance at Erwin.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your concern,” you throw back coolly. “If that was all-”

“Are you in his office?”

“In the cafeteria, if you must know,” you reply, now a bit irritated with the interrogation.

“Fine.”

Levi hangs up abruptly, and you bring the phone away from your ear to give it a confused blink. Levi didn’t even tell you whether or not he wants you to come back to his office to check the hotels.

“Sorry about that.” You bring your attention back to Erwin. He waves his hand with a smile.

“Anyway, as I was saying, chances are Levi is not opposed to doing things with you, he’s just a bit slow on the uptake.”

You nod slowly. So, maybe you need to make yourself clear and assertively come onto him.

You look down into your coffee cup and bite your lip, trying to envision yourself coming onto Levi. It’s not easy. You don’t have an extensive track record of seducing people, you were always more occupied with studying and working.

You feel tempted to ask Erwin what kind of women Levi engaged with in college, but you know it to be a breach of his privacy. Plus, if they turn out to be completely different from you, you’re not quite sure what to think.

“How mad was he about the EFE event?” you change the subject. Erwin chuckles.

“When I called him from the party, he just grunted and hung up. But the next day, he made a very straightforward phone call where he told me he’d ‘ _appreciate it’_ if I kept my _‘lecherous, womanising fingers’_ off his assistant. When I inquired why, he told me that if I had eyes and wasn’t dumb as a rock I would have realised by now. I then asked him if it’s because of his affections for you-“

“What the hell do you think you’re babbling on about?”

You turn the second you hear Levi’s chilly voice.

Well, you shouldn’t be _too_ surprised by this.

His arms are crossed and he’s obviously not ecstatic as he watches the two of you. Though, when his eyes slide to your left hand and he not only sees the bracelet but also the engagement ring, his mood seems to improve a little bit.

Erwin doesn’t look intimidated in the slightest. If anything, he’s amused. He leans forward with an obviously gleeful expression as if seeing Levi crash your coffee date was just the kind of entertainment he was craving.

You get up, you got what you came here for anyway. You flash Erwin a small smile.

“Thank you for seeing me, Mr Smith.”

“The pleasure was mine. If things ever get too hectic at work because of your _newfound development_ ,” Erwin’s eyes bounce to the ring and then back to your face, “remember that quitting your job at Ackerman Corp. and working for me instead is always an option.”

“And why would she want to do that?” Levi cuts in.

“Well, after your marriage, she’ll not only work for you but also live with you. It can prove to be rather intense.”

Erwin gets up and circles over to you. He reaches for your jacket on the backrest of your chair, but Levi’s quicker. He moves in, nimbly snatches the jacket and helps it on you. Erwin holds up his hands with a chuckle and backs down when Levi gives him an icy look.

“I have no intention of handing over my Assistant, Erwin,” Levi tells him. You look back and forth between Erwin and Levi and try to decide if this is something you want to comment on at all.

Levi places a hand on your back and starts steering you towards the doors. You turn to give Erwin one last smile.

“Oh, wait, I need to pay my bill,” you realise when you’re almost at the door.

“Don’t worry about it, Ms Reader, I can-” Erwin calls after you, but Levi makes a sudden 180 and marches to the counter. You hurry after him and grab his hand just as he’s handing the cashier his credit card.

This competitive bastard, you have a strong hunch he’s mostly doing this to keep Erwin from paying for you.

“I can pay for my own coffee,” you protest. Levi gives you a grumpy kind of look.

“I pay your salary so either way, your coffee will be paid by me,” he points out. You growl a bit, knowing you can’t really argue with that.

Despite this, you stubbornly take out your wallet and give the cashier a five-euro bill.

“You just used like ten thousand euros on my engagement ring, at least let me pay for my own damn coffee.”

“Ten thousand? Are you trying to insult me?” Levi asks dryly. You throw him a glare.

“Now I don’t even want to know how much this thing cost,” you mutter. You notice the cashier longingly glance at your ring.

“I wouldn’t recommend marrying a billionaire,” you tell her dully. “More trouble than it’s worth.”

You don’t wait for her reply. You take the change and start walking back to the entrance. Levi walks beside you. From the corner of your eye, you see him turn to throw Erwin a dagger-filled glare. Then, you feel a loose arm around your waist, pulling you closer.

He doesn’t let go, even as you get on the elevator.

“Did you go to see Erwin to snoop about me?” he asks. He’s standing behind you, so close you can feel his breath tickle the back of your ear. It makes you shiver.

“Not about your father or anything. Just… Other things.”

“Such as?”

It’ll be a cold day in hell when you admit to him that you went to ask if Levi has a sex drive. But what Erwin said is playing on repeat in your head. It’s probably not that he doesn’t like you enough, he’s just a bit slow on the uptake and you need to push until he gets the hint.

Bravely, you turn your head a little so you can meet his eyes. You give him a smile you hope is flirtatious, and reach a hand behind you to stroke his jaw.

“What? Are you jealous?” you tease.

“Evidently.”

He grasps your hand in his and stares back at you steadily. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable at all by the closeness. Your eyes move down to his lips. You make a split-second decision and lean in. You could swear you feel Levi’s hand clutch yours a bit tighter as you move forward with the full intention of kissing him-

_Ding!_

The sound of the elevator doors makes you twitch. You jump back from Levi and give him a wide-eyed, startled look. He blinks at you, a little confused but also amused.

“What are you doing, Frida?” he asks cockily.

“Nothing,” you breathe through your teeth, equal parts embarrassed and frustrated, and speed-walk out of the elevator. He follows you outside and grabs your wrist before you can run out on him. He points his thumb at his car that’s waiting in front of the building.

“I have my own car,” you murmur. Your heart is still pounding in your chest and you’re trying to digest the fact that you would have kissed Levi had the elevator not arrived at the ground floor that exact second.

“It’s back at the office. I’ll take you home.”

“I still need to get to work tomorrow morning,” you argue weakly even though you know where this is going.

“You can use the company credit-”

“Fine,” you cut him off with a sigh and allow him to escort you to the car. You’re too tired to fight about the car now. You nod at the driver and hop inside.

You decisively stare out of the window as you drive back to your apartment until your heart has calmed down and you’ve gotten over the irritation that came with your failed attempt at kissing him. Even though you didn’t actually kiss, you successfully tested the ice.

You think over what Erwin told you, about how Levi is most certainly not asexual and has slept with women before. Most likely, all you need to do is to just make your desires known.

And so far, he hasn’t pulled away when you’ve approached him. He allowed you to touch his hair and cheek and just now, it sure as hell looked like he would have let you kiss him.

But _do_ you want to sleep with Levi?

Well, you do. At this point, there’s no point in trying to deny the physical attraction. And you’re a modern woman, you can have sex with someone even if you’re not head over heels in love with them.

 _Not head over heels yet_ , your brain interjects, to your dismay.

The more you spend time with Levi, the more you’re on your way to completely falling for him. His calmness, steadfast approach to things, the way he only says what he means, the gentleness of his hands when he grabs you, even his possessive streak has its charm.

You glance at Levi, who’s staring at his phone with a frown. You wonder which sticker he accidentally sent this time.

You smile to yourself. Even the way he accidentally sends out stickers when he texts is attractive to you. It’s cute and makes him seem less intimidating and more human.

And as it is, you know that he’s rather slow at picking up social cues. Much more so with romantic relationships, given how rarely he seems to ever have dated anyone. Erwin did mention that he’s very picky, so he probably hasn’t slept with a whole lot of women, either. And those women he _did_ sleep with came onto him bluntly.

He’s been trying his hardest to be considerate of you, he’s listened to your requests, he’s compromised his way of living to appease you, he’s advanced to the point of making you lunch based on the tone of your voice. He’s really trying, and you appreciate it.

So maybe, you need to cut him some slack and just give it to him straight. As embarrassing as that is and as insecure as you’re feeling.

When the car pulls up in front of your apartment building, you take a deep breath. Gathering all your nerves, you scoot closer to him.

“Levi,” you call, using his name for the first time. It takes a moment to register on his end as he’s still very preoccupied with his phone.

“What,” he finally grunts and gives you a short glance.

Okay, not the most encouraging of reactions, but Levi’s known for being grumpy and hard to approach. You move closer until you’re right next to him, your thighs pressed together.

You place a slow, seductive hand on his chest and lean in, eyes twinkling flirtatiously.

“Would you like to come in and _play_?” Your voice is a sultry purr. You give him a meaningful look.

Levi looks up from his phone and frowns. He doesn’t lean away but he doesn’t make a move to touch you, either.

“Why would I want to come to that dust-infested sty of yours?” he asks bluntly.

You blink. He blinks back. For about ten seconds, you stay there, unmoving, your hand pressed against his chest, your head close to his, and wait for him to get the hint.

He doesn’t.

You could strangle him.

“Fine,” you hiss and pry yourself away from him. “I give up.”

He looks after you, a bit puzzled, as you step out and close the door with a deafening slam. He watches as you march inside without a look back.

He catches the driver looking at him through the rear-view mirror and narrows his eyes in annoyance.

“What the hell are you gawking at?” he snaps.

“Nothing, sir,” he driver sighs, barely holding back the condescending edge from his voice. He starts the car with a disappointed shake of his head and sets the course towards Levi’s apartment.

Levi turns back to his phone.

He’s blissfully unaware of the fact that you marched home fuming, drank three glasses of wine while ranting about what an insufferable munchkin he is, angrily masturbated to the thought of him and fell asleep on the couch, just to wake up the next morning with a raging hangover and aching back.

You swear to God you’re going to kill him one of these days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to finish this yesterday but then the new Star Wars trailer dropped and the SW fangirl/Reylo trash in me made me drop everything and first watch it 15 times and then read a bunch of Reylo fics don't @ me yeet.
> 
> But here we are, Levi be [dodging those booty calls](https://i.imgur.com/UgiT7An.gif) like I'm dodging the hours of sleep I could be having did I not stay up every night writing fics. I'm also starting to inject the "chronic shitposter" -side of me into Erwin little by little and I'm not even sorry because I like the thought of him just sitting and watching with the biggest bucket of popcorn because honestly, same.
> 
> Also, this is the chapter where we all realise that the real reader-insert here is that driver. Everyone who was with that driver in that scene please raise your hand. 🙋♀️🙋♀️🙋♀️
> 
> Comments make me super happy and I love to hear from you as this story slowly unfolds.


	10. Aloe White

How did you not realise this sooner?

You suppose it’s because you’ve been so busy fretting about the trip itself as well as you and Levi’s relationship, that it just never crossed your mind until you’ve sat down in your seat and fastened your seatbelt.

Whenever possible, you try to avoid travelling by plane because of the small fact that you hate heights. And planes tend to fly pretty high up.

Your shoulders are tense as you look around the business class cabin. The seat you’re in is much wider and comfier than the ones in economy class and it can be reclined to full horizontal position. The screen in front of you is almost the size of a small TV and you’re provided with little luxuries such as slippers, high-grade pillows and plenty of legroom.

Levi could without a doubt afford a private jet or a suite in first class, but he usually settles for flying regular business class, even when he’s flying without you and your demands to keep your expenses to a minimum. Granted, he only agrees to fly very specific airlines that meet his strict standards for cleanliness and meal quality.

Presently, however, you couldn’t care less about meal quality. You’re clutching your hands into fists, squeezing your eyes shut and leaning your head against the backrest. Deep breaths, you tell yourself, but you’re beginning to feel increasingly freaked out when the boarding is completed and the plane starts to move.

You purposefully dressed as comfortably as possible, with a pair of black jersey pants and a loose, brown cardigan. Levi is also in his leisurewear, albeit instead of going full slob like you, he opted for a pair of black jeans and a light-coloured flannel shirt.

He’s sitting next to you, your seats separated by a small table and the wide armrests. Your tense demeanour doesn’t go unnoticed by him, and he gives you a long look and a frown.

“What?” he asks. You crack an eye open to give him what you hope is an authentic-looking smile.

“It’s nothing.”

“Clearly it’s something. Your whole body is as tense as a violin string,” he points out and gives you a raised eyebrow when you jolt, startled by the sound the wing flaps make when the pilot tests they work properly.

You inhale sharply and briefly contemplate continuing to deny anything’s wrong, but give up on that. You know Levi won’t buy it.

“I’m scared of heights and by extension, flying,” you mutter. Levi blinks.

“You’re scared of heights,” he repeats. “But you work and live in a skyscraper.”

“I’ve gotten used to that, little by little,” you explain through gritted teeth, “but flying is still going to freak me out because I don’t do it often.”

The plane lurches forward as it gains speed for take-off. You squeeze your eyes shut again and try to steady your breathing.

Then, to your astonishment, instead of laughing at you, you feel Levi simply take your hand without as much as commenting on it. His fingers rub the back gently and it helps you turn your attention elsewhere, to the warmth of his hold.

Your stomach flips when you feel the plane take off, and despite squeezing onto Levi’s hand so hard it ought to hurt, you can’t help your anxiety and bury your teeth into your lower lip.

Immediately, you feel the fingers of Levi’s other hand gently dislodge your lip from between your teeth.

“Don’t do that,” he orders, but his voice is low, tender even. His concern warms you and you feel your pulse quicken with the physical contact.

When you’re somewhat convinced the plane is not going to crash as of now, you slowly open your eyes. Levi’s leaning over his armrest, his thumb caressing your lower lip just a bit. His hand tightens in yours.

You look into his eyes for a while, observing the calm and attentive grey. He’s looking at you like holding your hand and stroking your lip is the most natural outcome in the world. He doesn’t seem bothered by the closeness in the slightest.

The knowledge that he’s concerned about you is enough to momentarily make you forget that you’re in a pressurised metal tube that’s approaching the altitude of ten kilometres.

Truth is, during the last few days, you’ve been a bit more distant than usual with Levi, something he must have picked up on as well. Since Wednesday, you spent a couple of days being kind of offended that he not only turned you down but turned you down and called your home a _dust-infested sty_. You eventually got over it, but you haven’t spent much time with Levi outside of work.

“I didn’t know you’re scared of heights,” he states with a steady voice.

“You never asked,” you retort even though your tone is breathy and faint. He scoffs and pulls his hand away from your face. Your hand remains secured in his.

Clearly contemplating, Levi stays quiet for a while.

“That is true,” he finally admits. He never asked you about your life.

“So, since when have you been afraid of heights?”

“I never _liked_ them, but I got the actual phobia after high school.”

“Why?”

“You have things you don’t wish to disclose, I have some of my own. Let’s not go there,” you smile.

“Fine.“

You notice that Levi seems to have no desire to let your hand go. He leans back leisurely as the plane reaches full altitude and stabilises, your hand still securely engulfed in his. You see him every now and then glance at the ring on your finger with a satisfied look.

“What about you?” you suddenly ask after a moment of quiet. You do it mostly to keep your mind off where you are.

“What about me?”

“Are you afraid of anything?”

With a frown, Levi pauses to think.

“I’m afraid of becoming someone who can’t think on his own,” he finally says. His eyes are glued to the backrest of the seat in front of him, his mien thoughtful and, to your astonishment, even a little distressed.

You weren’t expecting such a deep answer. Your eyebrows furrow together, and you squeeze his hand a little.

“You’ve always been very independent,” you reply in an attempt to encourage him.

“I haven’t,” Levi argues immediately. “I became that way, but I haven’t always been able to do that. I guess I’m afraid of… Relapsing.”

“When you weren’t independent, who were you dependent of?” you ask and tilt your head. He throws a small, unhappy glance your way.

“I know you’re sharp, Frida. You can piece that much together.”

“So, how come you’ve now gone back to doing as Mr Dietrich tells you to?” you ask. He shakes his head.

“That’s between me and him. But I hate it. More so than you realise.” His expression is dark. You’ve now forgotten all about the fact that you’re on a plane. You follow your instincts and place a hand on his cheek to stroke it.

“You still chose me on your own, didn’t you?” At least that counts for something.

The tiniest little smile breaks to Levi’s sombre features. He plops his hand on top of your head and ruffles your hair a little.

“Yeah. I did.”

You share the small intimate moment, just smiling at each other until the flight attendants stop by your seats to offer you refreshments and you pull your hands back.

This was the most _human_ you’ve ever seen Levi. For once, he felt like a man with his own struggles and fears, rather than a sturdy, robotic CEO. It further cements your conviction that rather than just being attracted to him physically, you’re falling for everything he is. Every time you get to know him on a deeper level, you feel exhilarated.

After dinner, the lights are dimmed to allow people to sleep. You get halfway through a rather brainless superhero movie before you start nodding off. Somehow, Levi’s presence has calmed you to the point of not freaking out anymore, and the steady whirring of the plane lulls you into a sense of security.

You fall asleep, and not thirty minutes later do you roll your head to the side in your sleep. You don’t wake up as you slump over the armrest and your head flops against Levi’s shoulder.

He doesn’t wake you up, either. He blinks at you as you rest your head against him, your nose brushing against his neck. Then, he decides to leave you be and turns back to whatever document he was reading on his laptop.

-

As you arrive in Philadelphia, you’re tired and jetlagged. What to you feels like the middle of the night is early morning in local time. The airport is bustling with life around you, and once you’ve gotten through immigration and reclaimed your luggage, you step out to a lively street.

The driver Levi has hired for the duration of the trip is already waiting for you. You hop in the backseat of a black limousine and yawn loudly. Even though you slept on the plane, you would love a few extra hours of shuteye.

Unfortunately, you know that’s not a luxury you’ll be granted. The conference may not officially start until tomorrow, but there’s still lunch meetings to get through, business deals to propose, connections to make, all that jazz that Levi hates with a passion.

And frankly, you’re a bit concerned about how you’ll fare alone with Levi. He usually has Mike Zacharias or Hange Zoë with him who do the talking while he just stands and glares. Now, however, it’s up to you.

The coffee they offered during breakfast on the plane, just before landing, was so appalling you couldn't get it down despite your best efforts. Thus, your eyes gain a longing sheen when you pass by a coffee shop. You’re dying for a good, dark roast.

The car pulls up before the luxurious hotel Levi insisted on booking. Against your request, he bought both of you suites, and you wince a bit as you step into your room a dozen minutes later.

For starters, it’s in one of the upper floors, with polished marble floors, steam-cleaned, fresh-smelling textiles and lots of sunshine.

The outer wall is made of glass because of course, it is. It’s made for rich people after all, and rich people just love their heights by the looks of things. The first thing you do is pull the heavy silk curtains over the full length of the wall. You take a look at the absurdly wide bed and shake your head a little. Then, you walk to the bathroom with the intention of taking a shower.

The bathroom is too big for anyone’s tastes, with a sparkling clean jacuzzi that has a flat-screen TV fastened on the wall next to it. In case you feel like watching re-runs of quiz shows while wasting energy and natural resources on soaking in bubbling water. You ignore that and instead step into the meticulously cleaned shower cubicle.

Fifteen minutes later, you emerge from the bathroom, a bathrobe wrapped around your body. You have about an hour to get ready before the lunch meeting starts, and you push aside the relentless tug of exhaustion.

In the middle of applying make-up, you hear someone knock.

“Miss, room service!” a cheerful call comes. You frown and walk to the door. When you open it, you’re greeted by the sight of a brightly smiling, young man with a tray. On top of it is a tall cup of steaming hot coffee.

“Your fiancé asked us to deliver you a cup of our prized coffee with a message,” he informs you. You take the tray with a blink and set it down on the vanity.

You grab your wallet and walk back to the door. You give the man a few dollars as a tip. He takes them with a smile and hands you a small envelope.

“Have a nice day, ma’am!” he wishes and walks down the corridor to the elevators. With a frown, you open the envelope.

_Next time, just ask me to stop the car._

_\- L_

So, he noticed your longing stares directed at the coffee shop after all. You chuckle fondly.

You drink the coffee in between putting on your make-up. It’s a rich, lovely dark roast that’s been expertly brewed. It leaves you thoroughly satisfied.

 _Thanks for the coffee,_ you text him. He takes fifteen minutes to reply. He must be getting ready as well.

_You’re welcome._

The text is accompanied by a sticker depicting a shark who’s wearing an impressive collection of gold chains. In its hands, there’s a stack of dollars that it’s swiping to the ground one by one with the palm of its hand. You wait for Levi to address it, but he doesn’t.

_Aren’t you going to tell me to ignore that?_

_No, this time I put it there on purpose._

You snigger. If you can’t beat them, join them, eh?

You rather like Levi’s sense of humour, you’re increasingly discovering. You reply with a thumbs-up emoji and start on making your hair presentable.

-

The first day goes by smoothly. You mainly just follow Levi and step in conversations to change the subject when it’s obvious Levi is seconds away from saying or doing something rude.

You enjoy the brief moments between dates and events by taking a small walk through Rittenhouse Square and around the neighbourhood, just to soak in the unique atmosphere of an East Coast city. Levi accompanies you to this walk, clearly just as eager to get away from the nosy businessmen and flattering socialites.

In the evening, Levi excuses both of you early and takes you to a luxurious Spanish restaurant. You eat dinner in relative silence and when you step out, it’s hardly nine yet.

You stretch your arms, still sleepy thanks to staying awake for the whole day.

“Would you like to walk to the hotel?” you ask. It’s not a long way from Society Hill to your hotel in Center City, and the streets look safe and patrolled enough. Levi makes a non-committal voice to approve, and you start making your way back.

“How was today? Is it exhausting to exchange pleasantries with businessmen?” you ask. Levi shrugs.

“I’m used to it,” he grunts. You have to give it to him, he was surprisingly pleasant today, by his own standards that is. You didn’t attract too many raised eyebrows and scandalised looks.

When a few shady-looking people walk past you, you feel Levi place a steady arm around your waist and pull you closer.

It’s weird how fast you’ve adjusted to being touched by him like this. You _are_ engaged, but you would still have thought that it’d take you longer than this to get used to his hands on you.

After the people have passed without incident, he still keeps his arm there, and you find yourself pressing against him just slightly. Levi’s presence has a sedating effect on you.

“How do you feel about having to marry me?” you ask after a moment of comfortable silence.

“I’m not ecstatic about being forced to marry anyone. But of all the people, I’m the least unhappy about marrying you.”

You chuckle and bring your left hand up to take a look at the engagement ring.

“I still can’t believe I said yes,” you admit with a hum.

“Why?”

“Because I’d like to think I know better than getting engaged to my boss on a whim.”

“A part of the reason why I chose you was because I knew you’re one of the only people who have the nerve to make such a decision so quickly.”

“You chose me because you thought I’m more likely to say yes?”

“No. Because I find headstrong women attractive. I can’t stand people who march to the beat of someone else’s drum.”

“When did you start feeling attraction for me?”

“I never contemplated you in that light before my father started pushing marriage. But when it became obvious I would have to betroth someone, you were the first and foremost candidate.”

You laugh a little and reach a hand to playfully pat his cheek.

“How romantic of you,” you tease with a grin. His arm tightens around you.

When you arrive at the hotel, Levi walks you to your suite. You pause at the door and wonder whether you should invite him in. You decide against it because you have jetlag from hell and are already nodding off.

Despite this, you feel like you want to give Levi the ball just in case.

With a brazen smile, encouraged by the nice evening, you lean in just a little. “If you ever need me, just send me a message and I’ll come by to your room.” To you, it seems like a shameless invitation, but you’re not surprised when it flies right over Levi’s handsome head.

“What would I need you in my room for?”

“I’m sure you can come up with something if you think hard enough,” you hum and shortly place your hand on his shoulder. He frowns but decides not to comment on your offer any further.

“Thank you for the dinner, Levi,” you then say. He’s a little taken aback by you using his first name, but the astonishment quickly melts into a satisfied expression.

“Goodnight, Frida,” he wishes and turns back to the elevators with a wave of his hand.

As you get in your suite, you barely have the energy to remove your make-up and brush your teeth before you crash in your bed and fall asleep instantly.

-

The first day of the conference is just as uninteresting as you surmised. The whole morning you spend sitting in auditoriums, watching endless slide shows and listening to a stream of presentations of moderately successful business ventures.

Whereas you try to at least look interested, Levi is blatantly unengaged. He spends a lot of time leaning his head into his hand and glaring at whoever is babbling at the front. You have to persistently nudge him with your elbow to get him to stop being so openly dismissive.

At lunch, you sit with a couple of Microsoft representatives and discuss the role of automatisation in future job markets. You have to lead the conversation on your side because Levi only offers the bare minimum, which is a couple of grunts and nods.

The only thing you’re happy with is that the lunch buffet offers quality coffee.

As the day trickles by, you try to stay on your toes. After all, you are a mere lower middle-class brat and an assistant, trying to swim in a stream full of high-class moguls, businessmen and heirs.

You’re doing alright given the circumstances, you think.

The only noteworthy thing that happens on Monday doesn’t occur until it’s time for the evening party.

You go back to the hotel, put on your cocktail dress and accompany Levi, who’s wearing one of his crisper suits.

The party takes place at one of the five-star hotels near the conference venue. The driver drops you off and you walk inside the large building.

You glance around the main hall, where food and drinks are lined up next to the walls. Guests are idly standing and chattering all around the room, save for a few who have sat down at the dining tables situated in one of the corners. The speakers are supplying the guests with some quiet, instrumental yet energised piano music.

Levi offers you his arm, and you take it without a second thought.

“We’re staying here for the bare minimum and then we’re out,” Levi mutters to you under his breath.

“I have no protests. I have a whole season of Parks and Recreation I aim to get through tonight,” you chirp back. He gives you an amused smirk. He nods curtly to a few people who recognise and greet him but steers clear of conversations and instead walks you to the coffee stand.

You get a cup of decaf latte. Levi opts for some Aloe White tea.

Just as you turn away from the stand with the full intention of slipping away from the crowd to enjoy your beverages, you feel someone’s heavy hand on your shoulder.

With quick reflexes, you turn just to see a familiar face you very much don’t welcome.

“Mr Schneider,” you force a smile and gently shrug his hand off. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Miss,” he greets with a wide smile. So, he’s already forgotten your name. You’re not surprised. You’d rather forget his as well, along with his whole existence.

“And Mr Ackerman,” he turns to Levi and initiates a handshake. Levi looks at his outstretched hand like it has some kind of disgusting, invisible insect sitting on it and doesn’t offer his in return.

For a moment, an awkward silence falls between you until Mr Schneider laughs nervously and pulls his hand away. Although, you can see the vein on his large forehead get more prominent, signalling he’s a little bit aggravated by Levi’s open distaste of him.

Concluding Levi won’t be much for conversation, he turns to you instead. You look over his balding head, long moustache and grey tuxedo, and obediently take his hand when he offers it to you.

“How are you, my dear? The last time I saw you, you were with Mr Smith,” he chuckles. You give him a cool smile that doesn’t reach your eyes.

“Yes. That was a lovely outing. Now, however, I’m here on business with Mr Ackerman. I assume you’re here because of the business conference as well?”

“Yes. A lovely gathering so far. I especially liked the presentation Mr Švelch gave today. That’s not the only reason I decided to attend, though. Heaven forbid I could use a break from Lena. She’s been insufferable lately, talks back all the time.” Mr Schneider gives you a long-suffering grimace.

“I wonder why, being married to a personality such as yourself, Mr Schneider,” you hum solemnly. Levi, who opened his mouth, without a doubt to jab at Mr Schneider, closes it and takes a backseat after hearing your subtle insult.

He’s clearly enjoying the show, his eyes shining with mirth.

Mr Schneider sighs wistfully, clearly not catching onto your attitude.

“I don’t know what happens to women when they get older. They’re so pretty and nice at first and then, one day, they just turn wrinkly and cranky. Take it from me, don’t get married,” Mr Schneider chuckles to Levi. “You’re lucky to not have a wife.”

Levi raises an eyebrow and shows Mr Schneider his ringed left hand.

“Too late,” he says bluntly. Mr Schneider looks taken aback for a moment and then chuckles nervously. Levi just stares at him with a blank look on his face and makes no move to dissolve the awkward tension. Mr Schneider glances at you in the hopes that you’ll save the situation for him. You just _happen_ to be looking the other way and his wordless plea goes, unfortunately for him, unnoticed.

“Well, hopefully, you have better taste than I did at your age,” he finally quips. Turning back to you as you’re the one he deems less intimidating, he smiles unctuously. “What about you, my dear? Unlike last time, Lena is not here. Would you like to drink with me tonight?”

“A lovely offer,” you give him a bright smile. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve done anything to deserve the company of someone of your calibre, Mr Schneider.”

“Oh but there’s no need to be shy,” comes the hearty response. “Come on now, eat dinner with me. I know a good place with excellent meat. And who knows, maybe you’d like to try _my meat_ afterwards,” he laughs, clearly happy with his tasteless joke.

From the corner of your eye, you see Levi freeze with a sudden flare of anger. Before he can step in and do something to seriously damage his reputation, you hurry to clap back.

“Thank you for the offer, Mr Schneider. I’m afraid I must decline, I was never much for pork.” Your smile widens and you leave him there, a frown on his face as he tries to piece together what you just said and why.

“We must be going now. A pleasure as always, Mr Schneider.”

You forcefully tug Levi away from Mr Schneider, who waves at you with an awkward smile. You doubt the man catches onto the insult. You’re way below him when it comes to social hierarchy, to a man like him it’s unfathomable that you would dare to insult him to his face.

You walk Levi outside, a safe distance from other guests. You step out to the empty patio, only a couple of tables and a small light post situated in the narrow, tiled space.

“That was a good comeback,” Levi congratulates tensely as soon as you’re alone. You look over his stiff face and notice he’s still pissed. But the worst edge of his anger was washed away with your insult.

You chuckle and sip on your coffee, forgotten in your hand up until now.

“I had years to practice with you,” you hum and look out to the nightly city, the cars passing by the road next to the kempt yard and garden.

“Unlike me, that guy is too much of an arrogant dunce to get that you were insulting him,” Levi snorts. You give him a sceptical look.

“I don’t think you caught all the times I was jabbing at you, either.”

“Maybe not all, but most. I just let it slide because I find it amusing and you do your job well. Plus, as I said, I find headstrong women attractive. Your attitude is refreshing.”

You titter and lean against the wall.

“People like Mr Schneider are not worth getting worked up over,” you say. Levi clicks his tongue.

“It’s because people don’t call them out that they think they can act as disgustingly as he does,” Levi protests.

“Perhaps. But he’s not worth endangering your business relations over. He knows a lot of people and will pull strings to sabotage your business if you offend him too much.”

Levi scoffs at your warning.

“You’re not one to speak, you basically just called him a pig.”

“I’m smart enough to do it without getting caught,” you reply with a small grin.

“Yes, you are an expert at being a smartass,” Levi admits as he finishes his tea. Despite his words, his eyes shine with contentment, affection even, as he looks at you in the dimly lit night.

“I am a smartass,” you concede easily. “I hope you know that once we get married, that side of me won’t disappear.”

“I’m counting on it not disappearing,” Levi says calmly. “I have had a prolonged urge to see you using your subtle insults against my father.”

You chuckle, completely at ease and relaxed. Somewhere along the lines, you got to the point of feeling safe and loosened up around your boss.

You contemplate pulling him in and kissing him now, but the chattering you can hear from inside reminds you of the imminent threat of someone coming out here and seeing you.

Instead, you merely smile at him and reach a hand to pat his cheek as you pass him by to go back inside.

-

You thank your luck that there are no evening parties on Tuesday. Together with Levi, you eat breakfast at the hotel buffet. You glare at him when he makes a comment saying your table manners are _“appalling”_ as you’re too sleepy to care about etiquette and eat while leaning your head into your hand, with your elbow on the table.

You listen to more boring presentations that use the terms _innovate_ and _opitimise_ far too many times. Afterwards, you get some Philly Cheesesteak for lunch. The Chairman is not a fan whereas you like it so much you eat his unfinished meal as well. Levi doesn’t listen to most of the presentations but instead uses the time to polish his own presentation about cybersecurity in banking software, which is scheduled to be held the following day.

You retire to your room right after the afternoon presentations are done, with a plan to watch TV, lounge around and order room service for dinner.

Your evening goes according to plan. You splay carelessly on your bed and channel-hop most of the night. You order a plate of lasagne for dinner and eat it with good appetite.

You’re just about to doze off when your phone buzzes on your bedside table. You reach for it lazily just to spring up, your pulse suddenly going nuts in your chest, as you read the message.

_Come to my room._

You glance at the clock. It’s almost 11 at night. Your sleepiness vanishes in a heartbeat.

 _Why?_ you ask, an excited smile creeping on your face.

 _Do I really have to spell it out for you?_ comes Levi’s unimpressed reply. You giggle a bit.

 _Alright. Give me half an hour and I’ll be there,_ you promise.

_Ok. Come asap._

Levi finishes with a sticker of a cartoonishly dumb-looking skinhead smoking a joint and a command to ignore it. You take a screenshot, as usual, and then leap into the shower.

Finally. He’s finally giving you the invite. He must have thought about the offer you made the other day and it’s finally clicked in his head. You close your eyes under the warm spray of water and let your mind wander

Your brain is quickly filled with an abundance of fantasies. Of him grabbing you and pressing you into the wall the second you walk through the door. Of him bending you over his desk to fuck you, his important papers scattering all around. Of him pushing you down to your knees before him and having you pleasure him with your mouth…

Whichever way Levi wants you, you’re game. You’ve waited too long and your body feels like it’s caught on fire.

You wash from head to toe, shave the small stubble from your legs, arms and armpits, and spray some perfume on your neck and wrists after you step out.

You put on a neat, button-up shirt, though this time you purposefully leave a few of the top buttons open. You pull on your pencil skirt with no stockings and finish your outfit with your regular work heels.

You quickly dry your hair and tousle it up a bit before slipping out of your hotel room with your smallest purse. Inside, you merely have the key card to your room and a couple of condoms you packed, just in case. You didn’t think you’d get a chance to use them now, but you’re not complaining.

You don’t even bother putting on make-up aside from a small layer of lipstick, just to make your lips extra kissable.

You hurry to the elevators, your heartbeat ringing in your ears, and ride up to the top floor where Levi’s suite is situated. You walk down the quiet corridor that has a thoroughly vacuumed red carpet and dark, oak-coloured panel wallpaper.

Your heart happily thundering in your chest and your body already heating up in anticipation, you knock on Levi’s door. He opens not five seconds later.

He’s still in his suit, a fact that surprises you a little. Didn’t he take a shower to prepare? Well, you assume he showered in the morning so it should be fine.

He lets you in and closes the door after you. He gives your outfit a dull once-over and then saunters to his desk. He flops down and lazily gestures to the leather couch and wooden coffee table that are standing by the wall opposite from Levi’s desk.

When your eyes land on the pile of papers on the coffee table, ominous cold starts drizzling down your spine.

He wouldn’t. He absolutely wouldn’t-

“You can start by going over the reference list and checking I’ve written them properly. Then, check the English grammar on my speech to make sure-”

“You invited me here to help you with your presentation,” you state dully. Levi gives you a mildly impatient look.

“Obviously,” he proclaims like it's the most obvious thing in the world and goes back to reading over the papers in his hands. You crane your neck a bit and see that it’s the slides he’s prepared for tomorrow, just in printed form.

“Start working. Let me know when you’re done with checking the sources and grammar.”

The last of the excitement fluttering in your stomach dies down and is replaced with razor-sharp anger.

You’ve had enough.

Fuck Levi’s presentation.

You’ve been trying to get him to catch the hint for a good while now. You’ve tried indirect and direct approaches, and so far nothing has worked.

You make up your mind in a split second. You walk to the desk and hop on it. You cross your silky smooth legs and cock your head to the side.

He gives you a wary glance but doesn’t lean away. Instead, he turns back to his documents.

“What are you doing? I asked you to check the papers over there,” he grunts and flicks his wrist towards the coffee table, clearly in his working mindset.

That’s fine. You don’t mind violently pulling him out of that zone.

Boldly, you grab the papers from his hands and unceremoniously throw them on the floor. They scatter all around the table, making a mess.

He’s clearly taken aback and turns to you with a very annoyed frown.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he barks.

“I believe I just threw your papers onto the floor,” you nonchalantly hum and lean forward to give him a view of your only partially buttoned cleavage. You notice his eyes flicker to it for a split second, and the small involuntary gesture solidifies your conviction.

Levi clicks his tongue and forces his eyes to bore into yours instead of wandering down again.

“Pick them up.”

“No.”

At your blunt refusal, Levi’s expression turns into a mixture of confusion, outrage and irritation. The sight is oddly satisfying.

“I am warning you, Assistant. This is unprofessional conduct,” he hisses and reaches down to gather the papers from the floor himself.

Your eyes flash and you grab his neat, purple tie with your left hand, the ring glinting in the light of the table lamp.

“Oh yeah?” you ask silkily. “Then how unprofessional is _this_?”

Levi’s eyes widen a little as you yank him in by his tie. Your tinted lips place on his, you close your eyes and for a second, you wonder if Levi will rip himself away and fire you on the spot.

He does no such thing. Instead, you hear a guttural growl, you feel a hand on your thigh and an arm snakes around your waist to pull you in tighter. You moan in delight and sink your hand into his hair.

That does it. He swiftly stands up and presses against you. The force is nearly enough to knock you backwards against the desk and when you feel his hand sliding up your bare thigh, you don’t think twice about starting to unbutton his shirt. His mouth presses greedily against yours, his tongue sneaks between your teeth to steal your breath and it’s obvious he’s forgotten all about the presentation and the papers at his feet.

It’s just as Erwin said. He just needed the push.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *talks into earpiece* Reader is in. I repeat, Reader is in. Ackerman did his best with his rock-solid defence but in the end, she pushed through and scored.
> 
> Worry not, you'll get the steamy bits first thing next chapter, I just wanted to end this on a juicy note.
> 
> Shocked? Standing up and screaming "fuck yeah" at your screen like a soccer dad? Unhappy because the slow burn has evolved into a full on, all-consuming house fire? Indifferent and in a daze because you're still not over the sick burns Reader aimed at Mr Schneider? Let me know!
> 
> Comments are, as always, greatly appreciated. I'm dying to know how you liked this chapter because I don't know. It's one of those I'm not sure I'm happy with, that I will probably become content with after a couple of days.
> 
> Love you all, until next chapter!


	11. Passion Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Content Warning:** Explicit smut. In case you couldn't tell by how the previous chapter ended. 
> 
> From this chapter onwards, there's going to be explicit sex here and there, and I won't put CWs for each scene after this one. This is the one and only warning. Look away children. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

Night has fallen over Philadelphia. Most people have made their way indoors and the few who haven’t drive around in cars rather than walk. The streets are empty save for a few people who are obviously looking for trouble.

In the middle of the busy City Center, a tall, luxurious hotel stands quietly, almost intimidating in the way it looms over the streets.

On the top floor of the said hotel, you’re too occupied to even realise that the curtains are wide open and you would only need to turn your head to the side to be grimly reminded of how high up you currently are.

Instead, you’re busy kissing your boss. Your nimble fingers open the buttons of his crinkly, white shirt and the second you’re done, you push his suit jacket to the floor along with his shirt.

The fact that he does nothing to address your crude treatment of his clothes, nor the documents scattered all around the floor, tells you how much you’ve managed to rile him up.

You feel Levi’s hand on your thigh, roaming up and down with unrestrained greed, your lips locked in a feverish kiss.

Nipping, suckling, panting, you’re needy as you kiss him, your mouth chasing his every time he pulls back for air.

Levi grunts, his fingers dig into the smooth flesh of your thigh and he yanks you closer. You try to part your legs, but the skirt is too narrow for that.

Levi seems to think the current situation is impractical as well.

“Loop your arms around my neck,” he orders, his voice but a low murmur against your lips. You do as you’re told, and you feel him circle one arm around your waist, the other hooking under your knees.

Without any difficulties, he lifts you up bridal style, and you have a passing thought that he must use that gym he has in his apartment much more than you initially thought.

These idle musings are soon wiped off your brain as you feel Levi’s lips move down your jaw to your neck. Your head falls back as he mouths at your pulse point and nips at it with his teeth a couple of times. Then, he drops you on his bed, on top of the fluffy and luscious cushions.

You’re still fully clothed. Your hair splays over the pillows and your eyes are lidded, surrendered. You look at Levi’s figure, towering next to the bed. You dig your toes in the back of your heels and carelessly kick them off onto the floor with a clack.

Levi loosens his tie and throws it off. His eyes slide over your body, the intense desire unconcealed and free for you to see.

You arch your back and press your knees together playfully, giving him a sultry look. Levi’s upper body now bare, you take the chance to get a good look. He’s lean but very toned, with clearly defined biceps and abs. His back is wide and you can’t wait to sink your nails into it.

Levi crawls on the bed. He presses your body down with his and kisses you deeply, his tongue assertively pushing into your mouth to rub against yours. You feel his soft hands slide down your cheeks to your neck, then down until he slips a hand inside your cleavage to cup your breast. You suddenly wish you hadn’t bothered with a bra.

You moan into the kiss, your fingernails rake down his toned back and your gasps for breath are lost against his lips. He pushes you down, and he only has the patience to open a couple of buttons before he gives up.

With a swift motion, he grabs your shirt in both of his hands and unceremonially rips it open. You hear the clattering sounds of buttons landing all over the room, but instead of complaining, you merely grab both of his hands and forcefully press them against your chest, now a whole lot more riled up.

You want him to touch you. You want his hands and lips on you, marking your skin. But above all, you want him inside you.

The remains of your shirt hanging off your shoulders, you drag him in for another kiss. You teeth glide over his lower lip and your throaty, wanton whimpers only rally him further. He pushes your shirt off your shoulders and reaches one hand behind you to clasp your bra open.

As a passing thought, you’re impressed at how nimbly he could do it, but that’s soon replaced with the need to be touched. Your skin flares up under Levi’s hands as he cups both of your breasts and presses them together.

He nibbles down your throat to your collar bones, his eyes dark and sharp on you as you refuse to break the eye contact. His tongue comes out and he brushes the tip against one of your nipples. Your breath gets stuck in your throat and you rub your knees together in a desperate attempt to feel some friction against your crotch, hot and so slick you can feel splotches forming on your panties.

His tongue swirls around both of your nipples in turns, his front teeth grazing the nub just a bit every now and then. There’s no hesitancy in the way he handles you, his mouth claims your breasts and his hands slide down the curve of your waist to your hips.

You help him out by opening the small zipper on the side of your skirt for him. He grabs the snugly fitting fabric and impatiently pulls it off, leaving you in nothing but your panties.

His mouth detaches from your breasts and he stands up on his knees. His eyes move over your body, your red cheeks, heaving chest and closed legs.

You sit up as well and place a hand on his jaw. You guide him in for a bold and mouthy kiss, your other hand straying down his torso, taking its time stroking the clearly defined muscles before finally reaching his belt. You open it painstakingly, flick the button of his pants open and push your hand inside.

You rub his clothed length, impressed at how strained it already is. He hisses and his hand slides between your legs to rub your crotch in return. The tips of his fingers slide over the mound in circular motions, and the friction against the fabric of your underwear feels incredible.

Your eyes meet for a brief moment, and with a wordless agreement you both pull your hands back simultaneously. You pull your panties off and drop them to the floor. Levi does the same to his remaining clothes.

“There are condoms in my purse,” you tell him. He leans over to give you a brief yet rapacious kiss, just to feel smug about leaving you breathless and a little dizzy on the bed as he gets on his feet and wanders to the door where you left your purse.

A minute later, he comes back, a condom securely rolled over his erection.

He eyes you on the bed. You give him a playful look where you’re sitting, your eyes egging him on.

He quickly crawls on the bed. His hand sinks into your hair and suddenly, he’s grasped it in his fist and pulled your head back in a painless yet assertive gesture.

His mouth latches onto your throat and you let out a strangled gasp as you feel his fingers against your bare crotch, spreading the slickness all around your folds in preparation.

“You ready?” he murmurs against the spot on your throat where he can feel your pulse hammering under the heated skin.

“Take me,” you breathe. He pulls his hand away, drapes both of your legs around his waist and buries in, to the hilt.

Your legs crossed over his back, you gasp and sink your hands in his hair. Your eyes meet for a moment in the dim room, and he disentangles his hand from your hair just to take your left hand and place a small kiss on your ring finger.

Your eyes widen and the gesture, more than anything else he’s done to you tonight, makes your face flush bright red.

He places his hands on each side of your head, his face close to yours and his eyes sharp and attentive as he starts moving.

You feel his girth, stretching your walls just a bit, sliding out just to ram back in one, fluid motion. The closeness, the intimacy, the way Levi’s gaze bores into yours and makes your whole skin prickle, it’s overwhelming. You lunge forward and kiss him, arms clinging to him as he takes you with zero hesitancy.

You want him close. Closer. So close he’s completely engulfed you and you can no longer tell where you end and he begins. You tighten your legs around him, your arms clinging to his neck as he ravishes the deepest parts of your body.

“Levi,” you breathe shakily. You dare not detach your hands from him to touch yourself, you can feel yourself getting close to your climax just with his length and the dark, smouldering look in his eyes.

Your nails bury into the smooth skin on his shoulder blades, you break the kiss just to throw your head back and moan loudly. Your walls clamp down around his cock as you come, clinging to him like a woman possessed as he buries his face into your neck and marks your throat with his teeth.

You slowly descend from your high, but you never let go of him. It’s as if you’re determined to keep him right here, pressed against you, now that you’ve finally caught him after chasing him for so long.

He allows you to cling to him, his eyes calm and gentle as he waits until you’re done convulsing. Then, he starts moving again, this time with the sole purpose to make himself come. His mouth finds yours, you allow his tongue in your mouth to steal whatever little breath you manage to draw.

He comes not long after, a shudder runs through his body and he groans against your lips. You hold him close lovingly and move your head back, breaking the kiss to get some air as well as to press a kiss on Levi’s forehead.

He pulls out and only remains still for a dozen seconds before he gets up and saunters to the bathroom to get rid of the condom.

When he comes back, he pauses in the middle of the hotel room. His eyes slide from you on the bed to the clothes, papers and stray buttons on the floor. When he twitches towards the desk, clearly aching to go there and sort out the mess, you reach out your arm.

“I know you want to start cleaning and then work on your presentation, but I’d very much appreciate it if you came here instead,“ you tell him clearly. He pauses to contemplate.

“I’ll gather the papers and fold the clothes, but I’ll postpone the preparations until later,” he bargains. You nod, satisfied with the compromise, and curl up with a yawn.

He stacks the papers on the desk and folds all of the clothes over the backrest of the couch before walking back to your bed. He parts the blankets and you scoot under them in unison.

You move closer to him and rest your head against his shoulder, your hand resting on his chest where you can feel his heartbeat.

“That was a satisfactory test drive,” you hum. He gives you an unreadable look.

“I didn’t see that coming,” he admits calmly. You snort and give him a playful glare.

“That’s because you’re oblivious. I’ve been dropping hints for a while now that I’d like to do this, you just never picked up on them.”

Levi pauses to think it over. His arm loops around your back.

“You mean that one time when you brought me Passion Black for my morning tea and it was quite strongly brewed?” he asks. You blink at him.

“No, I mean the one time I quite literally asked you if you’d like to come to my apartment and _play_ as well as the time a couple of days ago when I told you to call me over to your room should you need me for anything.”

The fact that Levi thinks you’re elaborate enough to signal your desire for sex with tea while having your blatant booty calls go way over his head is equal parts worrisome and adorable.

“Oh,” Levi utters, for a lack of anything better to say.

You chuckle and curl up against him.

“And for the record, you’ve been fussing over that presentation for weeks now and I’ve checked your sources and grammar at least three times already, so just let it be and sleep for tonight, okay?”

You close your eyes and reach a blind hand to pat his cheek. You hit his forehead instead, and you hear him exhale in an irritated manner. He takes your hand in his, surprisingly gently, and squeezes.

“For the record, I will start acting like your fiancée now, at least for the remainder of our trip,” you inform him.

“What does that mean?” comes the wary question.

“It means I’ll touch you and kiss you and initiate sex as I will.”

“Alright.”

Levi doesn’t sound too upset about it.

A silence falls between you and as you drift off, you feel Levi shift under you to turn off the bedside lamp.

-

In the morning, you wake up to the smell of mouth-wateringly good coffee. You crack an eye open to look over the room, burrowed in the warmth of the blankets. The pillowcase has the scent of Levi’s shampoo all over it, and you inhale subtly.

You see Levi sitting by his desk, and when you shift on the bed and moan sleepily, he raises his gaze to look at you.

“Good morning,” you murmur.

“It’s already half-past eight,” he points out. “I ordered some breakfast from room service.”

You look over the tray on the coffee table. It has some wrapped sandwiches and coffee on it. As appetising as the sight is, your sleepiness wins out and you close your eyes again with a drowsy huff.

Levi watches the way you disappear under the blankets again and sighs to himself, a bit irritated. He gets on his feet and walks to your bed. Unceremoniously, the blankets are yanked off you.

With a whiny sound, you turn to give him a sleepy glare.

“We don’t have to be at the venue until ten,” you grumble.

“You need to eat, bathe and get presentable,” he reminds you. Though, his eyes roam over your naked body once in a poorly concealed once-over. You grin.

“What if I pull you on the bed with me, rile you up again and we get there late because we were busy repeating last night.”

Levi frowns and shakes his head. He’s clearly in his working headspace now, and it would take a lot to drag him out of it.

“Get up. Your slobbery disgusts me,” he bluntly states.

“Always such a romantic,” you hum, non-offended, but you do finally sit up and scratch your head.

You leisurely pull on your panties, not bothering with a bra. You look at the ripped remains of your shirt on the back of the couch and chuckle a bit to yourself. As you nonchalantly walk to Levi’s wardrobe where he’s carefully stored his shirts, you see a couple of buttons on the floor. You should maybe be offended that Levi destroyed your shirt, but the gesture was so sexy you’re willing to give him a pass. Plus, that shirt was not rare or expensive.

Levi doesn’t protest as you take out one of his plain T-shirts and pull it on. Then, you sit down on the couch and start eating breakfast, your eyes following Levi as he works. Seeing him so diligent first thing in the morning makes you want to mess with him.

“Hey,” you call to him.

“What is it?” he asks without detaching his eyes from his laptop screen.

“Did you like last night?”

“Evidently.”

“Do you like me?” you inquire harmlessly.

“Evidently.”

“Do you love me?“

“Evi-” he starts, his brain on auto-pilot, but he cuts himself off and gives you a sharp look. He then goes back to his work without giving you an answer. You resume eating, unbothered, and when you’re done, you get on your feet, pull on your skirt and heels and wander up to him.

Seeing him so focused on work first thing is oddly attractive and inexplicably makes you want to mess with him even further. With a successful seduction under your belt to act as encouragement, you wrap your arms around his shoulders from behind.

“I’ll get going now, I need to shower and change in my room. I’ll be ready by quarter to ten.”

He grunts in acknowledgement, still fully focused on his work. Grinning a bit, you lean in and blow into his ear. He jolts and immediately covers the side of his head with his hand. He turns to you with an irritated glare.

“You’re being a pest,” he tells you. You laugh.

“Such is the woman you betrothed,” you hum and lean in to give him a small kiss. Then, you walk to the door and out of it.

As you make your way back to your room, you can’t help but feel giddy. It actually feels like you’re a couple now. You feel your body ache with the reminder of last night and you’re eager to get more of that when opportunities arise.

You’re in a better mood than you’ve been in ages.

-

Levi’s presentation goes by without issues but despite that, he gives you a disapproving glare oozing of _“see? This is all your fault!”_ as he walks back to his seat. The presentation must have been lacklustre by Levi’s standards and for that, he blames you and your activities last night.

You ignore his accusing eyes. When lunch arrives, you eat together in what’s mostly silence before resuming listening to what feels like an eternal stream of presentations.

There are no mandatory parties tonight, just some smaller gatherings which Levi has declined invitations to. The farewell party will be held tomorrow to signal the end of the conference, which you’ll be forced to attend.

After the day is over, you get back to the hotel. You ride the elevator up to your floor together with Levi. You’re quietly wondering what to do for the evening, whether you should just lounge around watching Netflix or take another walk through Rittenhouse Square.

You’re so deep in thought you don’t realise Levi has followed you out of the elevator. You pause in front of your door and give him a curious look.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you move your things,” he announces.

“My things. Where?”

“My room.” He looks at you with a patronising frown, as if asking if you’re really this dumb. It’s rich, coming from him given his horrible track record of getting clues.

“You want me to move to your room,” you repeat. He nods. With a chuckle, you open the door and admit him in. Fine by you.

He takes a disturbed look around the room, at the carelessly thrown about clothes all around the couch and bed as well as the papers splayed messily on the coffee table. Despite his clear distaste, he keeps quiet.

You pack everything back in your suitcase and walk out. Sure, you’ll have to live on the highest floor for the remaining two nights, but at least you’ll get some much-needed one-on-one with Levi as a trade-off.

When you make it to Levi’s polished hotel room, he waits until you’ve shut the door and then immediately loosens his tie and starts unbuttoning his shirt.

You give him a raised eyebrow.

“Already?“ you ask. “Not that I mind, I just didn’t think you’d want to go at it first thing.”

Levi pauses to give you a perplexed frown and when it finally clicks, he clucks his tongue.

“Not _that_. Get changed into jeans and sneakers, we’re going out,” he announces.

“Out? Where?”

“You’ll see.”

“ _Where?_ ” you emphasize, and he gives you an irked look. Then, he sighs and walks up to you. A gentle hand plops on top of your head.

“Can’t a man take his fiancée out without being interrogated about it?” he asks. “I think you’d enjoy this more if you didn’t know what to expect.”

You examine him with narrowed eyes, a playful pout on your face. Then, you huff and grab his loosened tie to reel him in for a peck on the lips.

“Fine. But this had better be good,” you threaten.

“I, unlike you, have high standards.”

“Oh, fuck o-!” You’re cut off by his index finger on your lips.

“You swear too much,” he informs you. You bat his hand off, but there’s a smile tugging at your lips.

-

Levi turns out to be right. It’s the fact that you had no idea what to expect that makes you pleasantly surprised when you realise what he had planned.

You arrive at an odd-looking, mosaic building, so unlike the rest of the houses around it that it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Levi hands the receptionist at the entrance a twenty-dollar bill, and you’re admitted inside. Immediately, you know you’re going to love this. You look over the unconventional mosaic art splayed all across the walls of the urban, industrial building.

Colourful tiles, small mirror shards, carefully arranged pebbles and other materials, as far as eye can see. Your eyes are wondrous and there’s a permanent smile on your face as you walk through the rooms. It’s only an hour and a half before closing time and it’s a weekday, so you can look around in relative peace.

“Magic Gardens, huh,” you muse out loud. You’ve heard the name in passing and recall overhearing a conversation at the conference of someone visiting this place and quite enjoying it.

“I thought you’d like it. You tend to like weird things,” Levi enlightens you.

“Do you want me to smack you? Because I will smack you,” you tell him, unimpressed, though your grievances are quickly forgotten when you step out to a small alleyway. Protruding from the walls are glass bottles, arranged in the weirdest of clusters. You spot some other unique things used in the murals, such as rusty bicycle wheels and ceramic plates.

The asymmetry and seemingly chaotic nature of the artwork draw you in, and before you’ve registered it, you’ve walked through the large maze of rooms and murals, spanning multiple lots.

Levi doesn’t seem too appreciative of the art, but he looks satisfied seeing the child-like smile on your face as you enthusiastically observe the wonky visuals of each room.

You don’t realise that one and a half hours is up until you’re told that the gallery is closing. With a wistful sigh, you walk out.

“That was fun,” you admit as Levi sends a text to his driver. He pockets his phone and meets your eyes calmly.

“I believe I told you you’d like it.” That annoying _“told you so”_ -expression pisses you off just a little.

“Fine,” you sigh. “I’ll place a bit more trust in my hubby from now on.”

“Good girl.”

You climb in the limousine and drive off to a restaurant Levi has picked. You eat a dinner of risotto and white wine and by the time you get back to the hotel, you’re a little tipsy. Not enough to seriously impair your judgment, but enough to make you a little giddy.

When you get back to your hotel room, Levi doesn’t resist when you lean against the wall and pull him in.

After a round of sex, you order some more wine and watch late-night television from Levi’s bed, cuddled together naked with a glass of _Château Haut-Brion_.

You fall asleep, your nose buried into his cologne-scented neck and your brain more in love than you’d care to admit.

-

The final day of the conference goes by in a flash and in the evening, you find yourself walking into the same hotel venue you did on Monday, holding onto Levi’s arm as you make a wordless agreement and instead of socialising zoom your way to the coffee stand. Coffee and tea come first.

You see Mr Schneider. He’s already swaying a little from the alcohol, and he’s upholding a conversation with a couple of American businessmen who are wearing polite albeit awkward smiles.

You nudge Levi gently and nod towards the man. He gets what you’re implying; that you should stay away from him. You slip to the opposite end of the large hall and engage in surface-level conversations with other guests.

A Chilean IT-mogul, in particular, makes sure to compliment Levi plenty for his presentation.

“I have personally never done business with banks, so hearing about the unique security policies was most fascinating,” he explains enthusiastically. “I’ve heard of Ackerman Corp. but to think I’d have the chance to meet the Chairman himself.”

He looks to be rather young, in his early thirties, with a carefreely side-swept dark hair, a beautiful brown complexion and an attractive smile with absurdly white teeth. His suit is just as clean and well-tailored as Levi’s, but he’s made the stylish choice of leaving a couple of buttons unbuttoned at the top, and you notice that his sleeves are also uncuffed.

He gives Levi his card and when you realise Levi won’t return the compliment he just gave him, you hurry to do so in Levi’s stead.

“Likewise, Mr Aránguiz, your company has had quite the lift-off this year. Hearing your presentation about the beginning stages of your company was very intriguing. I’m especially impressed by how you managed to break even during the first year and achieve such a high profit margin by year two. Without a doubt, it’s a result of sharp business decisions,” you cut in with a polite smile.

He’s clearly pleasantly surprised you paid that much attention to his presentation.

“Do you work for Ackerman Corp., ma’am?” he asks. You nod and give him your business card.

“Frida Reader, Mr Ackerman’s PS.”

He looks taken aback as he looks over your credidentials.

“You’re quite knowledgeable about business for being a personal secretary. Ah, no offence,“ he hurries to add. You wave your hand with a smile.

“I get that all the time. Being knowledgeable is not a requirement, but I like being on top of things.”

“That’s an admirable quality in an employee,” Mr Aránguiz says. The smile he gives you is without a doubt friendly, and you’re not sure if you should interpret it as just a tad flirty. Levi, however, obviously does, because you feel his arm sneak around your waist. You give him a sideways glance but make no comment of it.

Soon enough, Mr Aránguiz parts ways with you after exchanging a warm handshake with both you and Levi.

You make your way outside for some fresh air, and as you walk to the patio, you pat Levi’s hand on your waist.

“He’s gone, you can stop holding onto me like you’re afraid I’ll jump him any second now,” you hum.

“He was flirting,” Levi mutters. You chuckle.

“Yeah. A little bit of flirting is pretty much the norm in gatherings like these. It would have been impolite of him _not_ to be friendly.”

“This is only the third party you’ve been to, yet you’re suddenly an expert,” Levi points out dryly. “Since you seem to think that flirting is an obligation, why weren’t you as nice to Schneider?”

“I explained my reasoning,” you reply calmly. You adjust the hem of your full-length, black cocktail dress and give Levi an innocent smile. “I don’t like pork.”

In the darkness of the night, he pulls you close. The hand not perching on your waist gently combs your hair behind your ear.

His eyes are sparkling with intense feelings he dares not say aloud. But it relays to you what you already suspect. That he’s falling for you just as fast as you’re falling for him, and that he’s not used to being so excessively fond of someone.

You place your left hand on his jaw and glance at the familiar sight of the bracelet and engagement ring. You’ve grown to take comfort in them.

You exchange a kiss. It’s short yet undeniably sweet and tender, and you feel dreamy as you pull back.

You go back inside and leave as soon as socially acceptable.

Back in the hotel room, you find that there’s a certain erotic charm to having Levi unzip the back of your dress for you, and you jump him the second the fabric falls to your feet.

He lets you sleep until lunchtime the next day, and you wake up past noon to see him steadily working by his desk.

As you sit in the car after showering and eating lunch, making your way to the airport to catch the seven o’clock flight, you have a faint smile on your face.

You feel like you’re proper lovers now, and you now know the extent of Levi’s feelings for you.

Your right hand takes his left, and you fondle the ring on his finger. He looks at your joined hands but doesn’t say anything.

Levi Ackerman. Your boss. Your lover. Your fiancé. And soon, your husband.

You would never have predicted the thought could make you this happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, look at my babies. Having sex. Cuddling. Talking. Flirting. Going out on dates. Bickering.  
> Gots to love it when two people who match each other finally blossom into an actual couple.
> 
> This turned out to be a very sweet and romantic chapter, but I think it's very welcome at this point, after all the teasing and slow buildup of the past ten chapters :) And with this, we've officially moved past the halfway mark. This story sure flies by fast.
> 
> Also, time for a plug: I started a new Levi/Reader story a couple of days ago. If you're into historical fantasy with intricate storylines and worldbuilding and lore and political scheming and grittiness and slow burn romances, and want to see my attempt at creating a long fantasy series, feel free to check out [To Sing a Song of Steel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20512595/).
> 
> Anyway, enough of me begging for views for my newest work, let's get to begging for validation instead. Comments mean a lot to me and help me immensely when I struggle with my writing. I love writing stuff for you guys, but I love it even more when I'm rewarded with you giving me your thoughts. So, if you have a spare moment, please consider leaving a comment :)


	12. Blackcurrant Herbal

”Today, we’ll have a meeting with Hange’s team before lunch.”

“I see.”

“And afterwards, Mr Smith has asked you to call him.”

Levi only grunts in response, eyes glued to his computer. When you pour him his Blackcurrant Herbal tea, his eyes briefly flicker to your bare ring finger. At the sight, his mouth pulls into a dissatisfied line and the space between his eyebrows wrinkles just slightly.

After you got back from Philadelphia, you used all weekend to sleep off your jetlag. Levi texted you a couple of times, but otherwise, you weren’t in contact with him.

This Monday, however, he seems to have been exceptionally bothered by your lack of engagement ring at work, and you’re not surprised when he calls after you as you walk back to the door.

“Frida.”

“Sir?”

“Don’t _sir_ me when we’re alone. It’s creepy,” he scolds.

“Yes, sir,” you hum and grin widely at the way he scowls at you.

“After work today, let’s go out for dinner.”

“Do you want me to spend the night at yours afterwards?” you ask and lean against the wall.

“If you want to,” he replies. You shrug.

“Alright. In that case, I’ll drop by my place to get a change of clothes.”

Levi nods. He eyes you with a contemplative expression and then holds out his arm.

“Come here,” he requests. You cock up an eyebrow and cross your arms.

“We’re at work,” you point out. Levi snorts.

“There’s nothing pressing to do as of the next ten minutes.”

You sigh playfully and click the door locked. Then, you saunter up to Levi and lean against his desk. He’s wearing the engagement ring and by now, everyone around the office has gotten used to the sight.

He watches you quietly for a moment and then yanks you to sit on his lap. With a shriek and giggle, you topple on top of him, taking support from his shoulders.

“I’m warning you, this is unprofessional conduct,” you mimic his words from a few days ago. He smirks and keeps you there as he turns back to his computer and resumes work, clearly happy to just keep you close for now. You shake your head with a roll of your eyes and mess up his hair just a bit as revenge.

“Quit it,” Levi says dully as his eyes slide over important-looking e-mails. You chuckle and cross your legs.

“Do you want children?” you suddenly ask. It takes Levi’s brain a few seconds to realise you’re talking to him.

“…What?” he finally asks and turns his eyes to you, clearly taken aback.

“Children. Do you want any?”

Immediately, you can see that you’ve breached upon something you shouldn’t have. Levi’s expression turns closed off and he grasps your waist to gently hoist you back on your feet.

“Get back to work, Assistant,” he orders curtly. You frown and stay exactly where you are, not appreciative of his approach.

“Okay, this is something we need to work on,” you tell him honestly. “I understand wanting to have your privacy and not telling me everything, but I don’t deserve to be pushed away like this for asking a simple question that concerns me a lot.”

Levi glances at you unhappily and thinks over your words. Then, he sighs in a resigned manner.

“No, I don’t want kids. At least for a long while,” he says. You nod slowly.

“See? That’s all you needed to say. I won’t pry any further but at least communicate properly that you don’t want to discuss something.”

You lean over him, a bit cautious, and place a gentle hand on his cheek.

“I’m your fiancée, one you picked all on your own and who said yes to marrying you all on her own,” you remind him. “I’m not going to trample all over your feelings. I just want to understand you. Okay?”

Levi looks at you from under his brows and then grasps your hand in his.

“Okay,” he mutters. “It won’t be easy, but I’ll try to be more open with you.”

Your careful expression melts into a warm smile, and you lean down to kiss his cheek.

“Thank you.”

The remainder of the day, you work as normal, and when it’s finally evening and you can leave, you’re not only tired but also hungry.

“I’ll pick you up at your place in an hour,” Levi tells you as you ride down in the elevator together. He stays off at the ground floor where his driver is waiting, and you go to the basement floor to the employee parking lot.

You drive home and gather necessities for spending the night at Levi’s. You’re in a good mood. Levi agreed to try and be more open. Who knows, maybe you’ll find out whatever the hell is going on with his father _before_ the wedding.

Levi informs you that he’s downstairs with a sticker of a kissy-faced Captain Hook from Disney’s Peter Pan and a command to ignore it.

As you step out of your apartment building, you see Levi leaning against his sleek, black car as usual. You hop in and drive to the restaurant he’s picked. It turns out to be a surprisingly relaxed fine dining version of an American diner, with high-quality burgers, chowders, and variety of barbequed dishes.

You look around the comfortable booths, warm lights and waitresses in boots, jeans and flannel shirts who hustle past with full trays of mouth-watering foods. The ornaments are saloon-styled, with leather saddles, antlers and eagle-themed paintings on the walls.

Despite this, the vast majority of customers look extremely wealthy and when you sit down in one of the booths and are handed the menu, you see that all the foods are expensive and made using very fine ingredients.

You order a portion of mac and cheese with homemade cheddar and fresh-made pasta dough, a high-grade veggie burger with freshly kneaded and baked buns, lettuce and tomato grown on the roof of the restaurant and a fried free-range egg. All of this, you plan to wash down with a cheap bottle of Budweiser, a fact that seems to amuse Levi.

As you wait for your food (Levi opted for some barbequed Angus ribs with a side of tomato soup and a glass of Harlan Estate red wine), he takes out some papers. You give them an exasperated look.

“Please tell me you’re not going to start working,” you sigh over the pleasant contralto voice of Nancy Sinatra.

“No. This is about the wedding,” Levi enlightens you. He takes out a ballpoint pen and starts going over the papers.

“What is your lease like? When can you move out?”

“I need a month’s notice,” you reply, playing along for now. Levi writes it down on the paper.

“Good. In that case, I suggest a wedding in two months,” he says. You blink.

“Two… Months?” That’s an unexpectedly tight schedule. Levi nods.

“The sooner, the better. For… Various reasons,” he says and his eyes flicker to the side avoidantly. You think it over. You’ll get married eventually anyway, and Levi apparently needs the wedding to deal with whatever’s going on with his father. There’s really no reason to decline.

Thus, you nod.

“Fine by me. That also means you won’t have time to pull some extravagant bullshit for the wedding,” you hum. He gives you an amused smirk.

“Don’t underestimate me.”

“So long as you’re not about to rent a castle,” you mutter and pause when you see his expression.

“No.”

“At least a manor,” he bargains. You shake your head.

“A regular church and a commoner-friendly venue, please,” you tell him dryly. “You can find the most extravagant church there is, sure, but I’m not going to have a wedding party in a freaking castle.”

“Most women would love that,” Levi argues.

“Firstly, I don’t think you know enough women past surface level to know that. Secondly, it’s exactly because I am unlike the women you know that you chose me.”

You nudge him with your foot under the table in an attempt to appease him.

“Could you at least wear the ring to work after we’ve locked the date?” Levi asks with a sullen expression. It clearly bugs him that you insist on keeping things a secret at work.

“Fine,” you relent. “But give me at least some leeway with the wedding. I’m not comfortable with things being too luxurious.”

“We can iron out the details about the ceremony later. But I’ll have it known that no wife of mine walks down the aisle in dirty rags surrounded by tacky architecture.”

You roll your eyes and decide to drop the subject when the food is brought to your table.

After eating, Levi drives you back to his place. This time, it’s him who pulls you in the second the door closes after you. After a feverish make-out session, while being pinned against the wall, he pushes you further into the apartment until the back of your knees hit something soft, and you topple down on a hugely wide bed with ironed silk sheets.

Half an hour later, as you’re resting against his chest, his possessive arm wrapped around your naked waist, you look around his bedroom. It’s plain, with nothing but a large closet, a bed and a bedside table in it. The furniture is heavy mahogany and the textiles are all a matching shade of blue.

Levi is considerate and draws the heavy curtains over the large windows to make it easier for you to forget how high up you are and fall asleep more effortlessly.

“Levi,” you murmur after you’ve removed your make-up, brushed your teeth and slipped under the covers with him. Your eyes are closed and your hand clutches over his naked chest.

“What?”

“I’m happy to marry you,” you tell him sincerely without opening your eyes, a small smile splayed on your face. He stays quiet and unmoving underneath you for a moment before you feel his fingertips brush against your forehead.

“Sleep.”

You drift off, safe and warm.

-

It’s nearing Thursday evening when Levi tells you to leave early. He has family matters to attend to. Quite happy about the thought of a night off with boxed wine and the latest season of _RuPaul’s Drag Race_ to gag at, you don’t protest at all.

Half an hour after you’re gone, the door to Levi’s office opens and in walks Mr Dietrich. He looks at his son in the mostly dark office, only the last rays of sunset and a couple of lamps illuminating the spacious room.

He ignores the way Levi glares at him and walks to the minibar to pour himself a glass of vodka.

With a relaxed sigh, he sits down on the couch and gestures for Levi to join him. He does, albeit very reluctantly.

“How is she?” Levi asks upfront. Mr Dietrich takes a sip of his vodka and groans happily at the taste. _Cîroc_ always hits the spot.

“She’s doing as well as she possibly could in this situation,” Mr Dietrich answers with a grave sigh. “You’re making the right choice, for her.”

Levi gives his father a glare oozing of nothing but despise. Mr Dietrich looks at him; sad, heartbroken almost.

“Levi,” he sighs. “I want what’s best for you. We both do. I want us to fix our relationship and get along, as father and son.”

“How am I not convinced?” his son seethes in response.

“I thought you liked your fiancée,” Mr Dietrich points out with a gentle smile. “Ms Reader is a lovely woman. I always sensed she would have an impact on your life, one way or another.”

Levi looks conflicted. The image of you, sleeping peacefully next to him with the ring glinting on your finger, it makes his chest balloon with fondness, but it also makes his stomach sink with worry and anxiety.

“That doesn’t mean I enjoy having you spring all of this on me. It’s not fair that I have to shoulder this, and you know it,” he shoots back. Mr Dietrich’s expression turns a bit colder.

“A deal is a deal,” he reminds Levi. “And I know you honour your deals.”

He crosses his legs and adjusts the collar of his brown shirt. He sips on his vodka calmly, as if oblivious to the fact that Levi is glaring at him fiercely.

“So, have you agreed on a schedule for the wedding?”

“Two months,” Levi grunts.

“Most excellent. I’ll arrange for you to move back to the manor right after the wedding, then.”

At that, Levi pauses. All colour drains from his face and he grits his teeth.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” he argues immediately. “Our contract says nothing about-”

“I know this fully well,” Mr Dietrich cuts in dryly. “But the situation has changed. You should know what else is at stake now.”

He leans down to take out some more papers from his beige leather suitcase. He gives them to Levi, who looks over the documents with a frown. He reads the papers once, then again, and again, until he’s fully comprehended everything that’s written on them. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to calm his straining nerves.

“You’re my son, Levi. And you’ve been on the run for long enough. It’s time for you to come back home,” Mr Dietrich says and reaches a hand over the coffee table to place on Levi’s. Levi immediately rips it away with a hiss, as if his father’s touch is burning his skin.

His eyes narrowing with rage and his whole body shaking with frustration, Levi thinks over his options.

He realises what he needs to do and suddenly, he looks tired and defeated. He makes the decision and closes his eyes. 

“Fine,” he breathes. “You win.”

“Excellent. Then I’ll pay a visit to Ms Reader to explain-”

“Send her my way,” Levi interrupts and gives his father a long, meaningful look. Mr Dietrich falls quiet, and his eyes gain a sheen of intrigue. “The one you’ve been pushing at me since the beginning.”

“Her? Are you sure?” he asks with an amused tone. Levi nods.

“You’re this desperate to keep your beloved assistant out of my reach?”

“You will never get your disgusting hands on her,” Levi tells him steadily. “I will not let you, even if I have to play everything into your hands.“

Mr Dietrich thinks it over and finally shrugs. You were never of _too_ much interest to him.

“Very well, as you wish. Marlene’s still very fond of you, I’m sure she’ll be overjoyed.”

“I don’t care,” comes Levi’s cold response. “Get the contracts ready by tomorrow.”

Happy with the way things turned out, Mr Dietrich stands up and walks to the door. He pauses and looks over Levi’s fuming mien. Underneath the wrath, however, lies Levi's crushing sadness, loneliness and isolation with buried, painful memories resurfacing all over again. At that moment, he looks tortured.

Mr Dietrich’s eyes gain a sheen of something gentle, almost remorseful.

“I’m glad to have you back, Levi,” he says and leaves his son alone in the bleak office, filled with space but no warmth.

Levi waits until he can’t hear his father’s footsteps anymore. Then, he leans his head over the backrest of the couch and releases a deep, shuddering exhale.

-

Your Thursday night turns out to be every bit as enjoyable as you anticipated. You’re languidly spread on the couch, the dishes from dinner shamelessly undone and thrown in your sink. In your hand, you have a glass of boxed rosé wine, and you’re shaking your head at the TV.

“Miss Vanjie,” you sigh at one of the reality show contestants. “You should know better than galloping on the runway like that.”

You briefly wonder what Levi would have to say about her purple flower jumpsuit and grin at the mental image of him calling it tacky.

Your thoughts are interrupted when the intercom starts ringing. You ignore it the first time since a lot of people try to get in to hand out pamphlets, advertisements or to try and convert residents into either Mormons or Jehova’s witnesses. But when the intercom rings again, and a third time, you finally get up and saunter to it.

“Hello?”

_“It’s me.”_

“Levi,” you blink. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

_“I’ll tell you when I’m there.”_

You narrow your eyes, but something about his tone makes you not want to argue. You buzz him in and then look around the apartment in mild panic when you realise how messy it is.

While Levi rides up the elevator, you dash around your apartment in a desperate attempt to hide some of the mess. It’s much too soon when Levi rings your doorbell, but you have no choice but to open the door with a grimace.

He’s still in his work attire, a heavy coat pulled over his suit. He looks at you and while his eyes are calm, there’s something dark lurking underneath.

You frown and admit him in.

He takes off his leather shoes and coat, and makes no comment of the dust balls he sees on the floor. It unsettles you.

He walks in the apartment and sits down on the couch without a word. He says nothing about the comically tall and wonky pile of clothes you’ve folded on the backrest. Immediately, you feel even more apprehensive.

You sit down next to him and take your half-drunk wine glass. You can tell something’s going on.

“What? I assume you didn’t run here this late just to kiss me goodnight,” you chuckle, though there’s a certain nervous edge to your voice.

“I’ve been thinking,” Levi says steadily. You pull your knees to your chest and sip on your wine warily.

“I don’t think marrying is a good idea after all.”

You pause and blink. What’s he on about?

“You mean, at such a rapid schedule?”

“No. I mean at all.”

You look over his grim face and tilt your head, nervous but refusing to freak out.

“Alright? So do you want to just remain engaged for now? Or revert back to dating? Did you deal with your father somehow?”

Levi sighs and forces his face steely. He gives you a callous look.

“No. What I’m saying is that I don’t think we’re suited for each other. Romantically or professionally. I’m here to break off our engagement and fire you.”

At that, your blood runs cold and you hurry to chuck the wine glass on the coffee table before moving to sit on your knees in front of him.

“What do you mean?” you ask, voice a little strangled. “We were doing fine not three hours ago.”

“That’s irrelevant.” His eyes are glued to the TV screen where you have the show paused in a colourful, glamorous shot of lined up drag queens.

“No, it’s not!” you argue, your eyes fiery as you lean forward and grab his chin to make him look at you. “Something happened, there’s no way you would do this out of nowhere.”

Levi glares at you and pulls his chin free.

“What happened is not important,” he seethes. “What matters is that starting now, our engagement is null. I’ve already made arrangements with Erwin, you’ll be transferred under his employment tomorrow. I’ve already had your things moved over to IntelAcc.”

You bite the inside of your mouth just below your lower lip and think it over. Levi’s hiding something from you again, that much is obvious. You fight off the instinct to panic and instead, steel your nerves. Nothing good will come out of getting flustered now.

“Oh? I thought you can’t stand the sight of me. Why would you bother with getting me a new job like this if you didn’t care at all?” you ask coolly. Levi snorts and breaks eye-contact.

Your eyes flash and you crawl over. You straddle his lap and grab his face into your hands.

“You’re not breaking things off with me because your feelings for me have vanished,” you assert. “Your father pulled some bullshit again. Why are you willingly going in his leash?” you ask. “Just a couple of days ago, you promised you’d try to be more open with m-”

“This is none of your business,” Levi hisses angrily. He grabs your waist with the intention of pushing you off, but you tighten your thighs on each side of his and lean in.

“Then say it to my face,” you demand. “Say you don’t want me, convincingly enough so that I believe it, and I’ll get off you and let you leave.”

Levi takes a deep breath and forces his face stony.

“I don’t want you,” he announces, but there’s obvious hesitancy. You laugh, your voice hollow. You rub against him just a bit, only having bothered to pull on a loose T-shirt and some underwear after showering this evening. Levi draws in a sharp breath through his teeth.

“You’re fooling no one.”

Levi glares you, the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“Shut up,” Levi seethes. His hold over you tightens, now almost painful.

“Then shut me u-“

Your challenge is cut short as Levi pulls you in for a hard, brutal but also somehow heartbreakingly desperate kiss. Your hand sinks into his hair and you yank him closer. You tilt your head immediately and groan into the kiss, frustrated.

His fingers dig into your waist, his other hand boldly grabs your ass, and he grunts against your lips as you latch your teeth onto his lower lip and tug.

He gets hard in a matter of seconds as you devour each other whole, your hands are roaming over his torso to discard layers upon layers of his clothes until you can feel his heated, soft skin under your feverish touch.

Levi groans and stands up. Your limbs tighten around him as he walks the few steps to your unmade bed. He shoves you down on it and when you open your eyes to see his face, it’s not at all what you expected.

His eyes are aggressive and frustrated, but also so vulnerable and lost that you feel your heart tug relentlessly at the sight.

You yank your shirt off and pull him in for a kiss, your agile hand opening his pants to bare his lower body.

You reel him to lie down on top of you, unceremoniously so, and roll your bodies over. Hovering above him, you take in every hue on his face.

He watches you, a little wide-eyed and longing, and then combs your hanging hair behind your ear with a gentle hand. You move off him just to grab your purse from the floor and take out a condom. You pull off your panties, eyes never leaving Levi’s as he lays obediently still on the bed, nothing but the dimness of the room concealing his naked body from your trekking gaze.

You roll a condom on him and straddle his hips. You waste no time, you want to feel the intimacy of his length inside you. You want to forget all that he said during the last few minutes.

He hisses and his head throws back against the pillows as your warmth envelopes his straining cock. You splay your hands over his chest and start rolling your hips immediately, taken over by all-consuming lust and possessiveness.

You lean down, your hair tickling his cheeks, and kiss him deeply. Your tongue pushes into his mouth unapologetically and finds his. Levi’s hand rests on your hip and every time you sit back down on his prick, he moans quietly. You’ve never seen him so helpless and compliant.

You pull back from the kiss and watch him in the hollow light of the bedside lamp.

“You’re mine, Levi,” you tell him, your voice a resolute murmur. “No matter where you run, so long as you still want me, I will chase you.”

Levi’s expression shifts from that of vulnerability to that of quiet fondness and he pulls you in to kiss you deeply. His hand cups your cheek as you take him inside your heated body, releasing soft puffs of hot breath against his lips.

“You’re a fool,” he replies painstakingly, panting just a little as you clench your muscles around him as punishment for talking back.

“Maybe so,” you murmur. “But I won’t let you go. Not when I know you’re hiding something from me.”

Levi shakes his head and groans, and you can’t tell if he’s frustrated by your words or if it’s because he’s dangerously close.

Nonetheless, you grab his jaw, make him meet your eyes and ride him, eyes assertive and possessive on him as you impale yourself on his erection until he shudders, a surrendered look in his eyes when he comes with his cock buried deep inside your body.

For a second, you pause and stare at each other, chests heaving. Then, he pulls you in, kisses you again and rolls your positions over with unforeseen hunger.

He fucks you and you fuck him, over and over throughout the whole night and when you finally come for the final time, your body limber and your crotch tender and sensitive, you pass out almost instantaneously.

Less than five hours later, your alarm goes off and you wake up to an empty bed.

Levi is gone and so is the ring, along with the contracts you signed. Left on the coffee table is the notice of termination of your employment, as well as the new contract with IntelAcc, already signed by Erwin. Levi must have visited him last night before coming here.

You glance at your wrist, and when you see that the bracelet is still there, you let out a long sigh of relief. At least Levi had the decency to let you keep it.

You walk to the bathroom and look in the mirror. You look at the kiss marks on your neck, your swollen lips, your bedhead, and over the shock and sadness, you hang onto the conviction you announced last night. You meet the determined eyes of your reflection.

Levi is keeping something from you. But, you’re not about to go down without a fight. Fuck all that with passion.

You will figure out what’s going on, even if it kills you.

He is your man, and you _will_ chase him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Reader: *just got together, happy and functional couple with a quickly strengthening bond*  
> Their thot of an author who's thirsty for some drama: [( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)](https://i.imgur.com/aXe458O.jpg)  
> My poor readers: [This, probably.](https://i.imgur.com/biGzBuD.gifv)
> 
> Remember what I said about phases? This is the end of phase two and we're moving on to phase three. Yeah, welcome to the main conflict of this fic and the beginning of twists and turns. I got some piping hot tea prepared that y'all will receive in moderate doses throughout the rest of the chapters.
> 
> That being said, please leave your comments cursing me out since I like comments even if they're essentially "afhskdfhldskfjhdsklfjds you harpy how could you?!"
> 
> Until next time! Mwah!


	13. Arabica Latte

You make it to IntelAcc in time for Erwin’s weekly meeting with his team leaders. Unlike Levi, he likes to communicate with his employees and know them on a deeper level. He very much believes that for a business to run smoothly, regular face-to-face meetings are needed. He even meets up with entry-level employees every now and then to hear how they’re doing.

You have wrapped a thin scarf around your neck to hide the kiss marks Levi left last night. You look sharp and professional, the circles around your eyes hidden with natural-looking concealer and powder.

There’s nothing on your face indicating you’re upset when you’re given your key card and you ride up the elevator to the top floor. Erwin shows you to your small office, next to his. You give him a copy of the work contract Levi left you, signed by you before you left for work this morning.

The meeting goes by in a flash. You prepare coffee and snacks for everyone, and you’re briefly introduced as Erwin’s new personal assistant. A few people recognise you to be from Ackerman Corp., but no one asks why you’ve suddenly switched companies. They just assume Erwin offered you a better contract and pay.

You try to keep up with the company affairs as they’re being discussed. You write down names, occupations, project names and the like. You feel Erwin give you small looks every now and then, gauging your mood, but your face reveals nothing.

You haven’t asked Erwin anything yet. You’ll save that for when you’re alone and have some time on your hands.

Your plan, for now, is to lay low and gather as much information as you can. It’s obvious that at this point, Levi will remain out of your reach so long as you have no clue what’s going on at his end of things. And you know going to Levi and demanding that information is not going to work.

Thus, you’ll go through those close to him, starting from Erwin. You know it’s inappropriate of you and had you any doubt in your mind about Levi’s feelings for you, you would drop it and allow him to leave. But you’re invested now, and after all you’ve been through with Levi, you think you deserve to at least know the truth.

After you find out what’s going on, you can re-evaluate if the information changes things, but as of now, you’re determined to chase Levi.

When the meeting comes to a close, you stay behind to clean up the coffee cups and plates. You visit the break room (which is neat and modern but not as strictly organised and cleaned as the one at Ackerman Corp.) to load the dishes into the washer.

You make your way down the bright hallway. Most of the light-coloured oak doors are closed, but you can still hear the sounds of tapping keyboards and ringing phones from the offices. Like Ackerman Corporation, IntelAcc also has the managers on the top floor with Erwin.

Your office is small and cosy. You have a cleanly polished wooden desk with a sleek, modern computer on it, a coat rack, a mostly empty bookshelf and a two-seater sofa with a coffee table in the corner. You’re thanking your luck that the outer wall is not glass but instead, stone with just a couple of small, blinded windows. It should keep most of your vertigo at bay.

Your things from Ackerman Corp. are placed on your desk in a cardboard box. You take the few belongings you have and put them in their proper places.

Looking around the office, you take a deep breath. For the time being, you need to get used to working here. Things could be worse, infinitely so. At least you have a job still, one that can support you just fine. You don’t need to worry about job-hunting alongside trying to find out what the hell is going on with Levi.

You look at the bracelet on your wrist and nod to yourself. Then, you knock on the door to Erwin’s office. When given the permission, you walk in.

Erwin’s office is just as wide and impressively furnished as Levi’s, with a luscious leather couch, a mahogany coffee table, an even larger mini-bar and a huge desk by the large window, supplied with a computer, stacks of papers and a collection of expensive-looking car models in glass cases.

In addition, Erwin has one wall of his office completely covered with bookshelves, and when you glance at the titles, you realise most of them are literary classics, self-help books and history encyclopaedias. Well, Erwin seems like the kind to read a lot.

“Sir, can I get you anything? Another cup of coffee, maybe?” you ask as you swiftly walk in, your heels clanking against the shiny marble floor.

Erwin, who is sitting by his computer, gives you a small smile.

“No, it’s quite alright, Assistant,” he replies and leans back on his chair. It’s obvious he’s waiting for what you’re about to say next.

“Do you know anything about what’s going on with Levi?” you ask, going straight to business because you both knew this conversation was going to come.

Erwin hums. Joining his hands, he places his elbows on the desk and leans his face into the backs of his hands.

“He hasn’t disclosed any details. He just visited me last night and asked me to hire you because he _‘needs to get you away’_.”

You sigh.

“And I surmise you still won’t tell me everything you know?”

“Try to understand things from my perspective. It’s hardly my place to tell you about Levi’s private affairs, as someone who’s in no way involved and having Levi explicitly request me not to tell you the specifics.”

Erwin looks sympathetic but he won’t waver on this. His loyalty to Levi runs deeper than his sympathy for you.

“But as for why he suddenly left you and fired you, even I don’t know,” Erwin admits. “It is possible that he’s merely doing this to deal with his father and will return to you once the coast is clear.”

“No,” you say immediately. “He would have told me to wait if that was the case. Plus…” you trail off and recall Levi’s desperate, pained expression from last night. It wasn’t the face of someone who is planning on coming back.

“His father has something on him. And I’m going to get to the bottom of it, with or without your help,” you tell Erwin, your voice resolute. He nods slowly.

“Good luck with that, Assistant,” he wishes sincerely. You nod and walk to the door. Pausing with your hand on the handle, you turn your head.

“Oh. And thank you for hiring me, sir. Not having to worry about employment makes things a lot more stress-free for me.”

At that, Erwin laughs.

“I have always thought highly of your competence, Assistant. I didn’t hire you out of the goodness of my heart,” he says. You smile and exit his office. Even though your mind is mostly occupied with Levi, you don’t plan on letting Erwin down, either.

-

The next two weeks trickle by slowly. You hear nothing from Levi or anyone else at Ackerman Corp. and you find yourself regretting the fact that you never made friends there. You were always very motivated to keep your work and leisure identities separate.

And then you went and started dating your boss. Well, at least you made a valiant effort.

During these two weeks, you feel tempted to text Levi a couple of times but hold those urges back. You know better than right out clinging to him like a lovesick puppy. You’ll be smarter about this.

After two weeks at IntelAcc, you’re presented with the rare chance of talking with some of your former co-workers. Hange’s team visits IntelAcc to discuss the bank software, as the project is still very much in process.

Beforehand, you’re dreading the meeting a little bit. Not the actual business part, but the part where you plan on asking Hange to tell you about what’s been going on inside Ackerman Corp. since you left.

You and Hange were never that close. You discussed business on occasion and you’ve attended meetings with her and Levi, but you’re far from being considered friends.

Thus, you let out a long sigh of relief when you see that Armin is attending the meeting with her. With him, you can actually discuss things.

Armin seems to be thinking along the same lines because he gives you small glances equal parts confused and troubled throughout the whole meeting.

The business side of things goes well. The alpha version of the software is all but done, and they’re well ahead of schedule.

You have a strong hunch that Erwin didn’t need to attend this meeting, but he did to give you an opening to talk with Hange.

When the meeting draws to a close, you purposefully stay behind to clean out the coffee cups. From the corner of your eye, you see Armin murmur something to Hange and remain in the room as everyone else leaves.

The second the door closes behind the last leaving person, you turn to face Armin.

“Hi,” you start with a small wince.

“Hello,” Armin blinks. “I knew you moved to IntelAcc but I didn’t expect you to work as Mr Smith’s personal assistant.”

You shrug harmlessly.

“Mr Smith wanted me to work directly under him.”

“I see.”

“How are things at Ackerman Corp.?”

Armin grimaces and shakes his head.

“Well, things are per usual, but the Chairman has been a complete nightmare to work with. Ms Zoë talks about it all the time, how Mr Ackerman is super snappy and constantly in a foul mood. Rumours are already spreading that Mr Smith snatched you away to work under him and that’s why the Chairman is so annoyed.”

You roll your eyes. How typical of the vultures to start gossiping the second you leave.

“Well, most are just confused as for why he’s in such a foul mood. Given that his fiancée visits often and all, by all logic he should be happy.”

At that, you pause and frown.

“His fiancée?”

“Yeah. We finally met the woman he’s engaged to. She visits him quite often.”

It’s not like this should be a shock to you. You knew Mr Dietrich probably still wants Levi to marry. But the thought of him with anyone else still stings a lot.

You don’t tell Armin that you were the original fiancée but instead keep your face only mildly interested.

“I see. Is she the only person who visits him?” you ask innocently.

“Well, his father comes by often as well, sometimes along with a bald-headed guy in a suit,” Armin recalls.

You nod. Dot Pixis, Levi’s lawyer. You briefly entertain the thought of contacting him, but you know he’s under an oath of confidentiality. Your chances at getting anything out of Dot Pixis sits comfortably at zero.

You feel tempted to ask Armin what Levi’s fiancée looks like, but you reject the impulse. You’re better off not knowing and it’s not relevant right now. Wasting time wallowing with an inferiority complex should she turn out to be more attractive than you could slow you down considerably.

Still, you’re deep in thought when you wander back to your office and when Erwin calls you in to ask for some coffee, he can instantly tell you’re distraught.

“Is something the matter?” he asks when you hand him his carefully brewed Arabica Latte. You pause to decide whether you want to confide in Erwin. Then again, he’s the best and only ally you have right now.

“Did you know that Levi got engaged to someone else?”

Erwin looks taken aback for a moment but soon returns to his usual, calm and thoughtful mien.

“It doesn’t come as a shock, I surmised something like that might happen.”

To be honest, it should have occurred to you as well. You were just so caught up in the idea that Levi was interested in you and only you that you failed to recall that he still needs to get married.

“A fiancée, huh,” you sigh. “Isn’t that nice?” Even to yourself, your voice sounds strained. Erwin catches up on it right away, and he takes a long look at you.

“Come out for drinks tonight. It’s Friday,” he finally suggests. When you open your mouth to politely decline, he continues with a stern tone. “That’s an order from your boss. Take a night off worrying about Levi and instead come out with me.”

You bite your lip, but Erwin’s expression leaves little room for arguing. And, you are probably in need of a break anyway.

You’ll just have a glass of wine with Erwin and then go home. That’s the plan for tonight.

Thirteen hours later, at one in the morning, Erwin opens the door to his apartment. It’s just as luxurious and neat as Levi’s, albeit the top floor he occupies is in a skyscraper just a little smaller. Not that you’re in any shape to recognise the fact as you lean against Erwin with your full weight.

“’m sorry about this, Mr Smith,” you slur awkwardly. Erwin helps your heels off and escorts you inside. He contemplated taking you back to your place, but coming in without you comprehending it, even if only to help you in bed, would feel like a violation of your privacy. Thus, he brought you back to his apartment.

Halfway across the hallway, your stomach lurches and you tug at Erwin’s sleeve relentlessly. He understands immediately and swiftly takes you to the bathroom. He’s gentle as he holds your hair back and rubs you between the shoulder blades while you hurl violently into the toilet bowl.

You consumed two and a half bottles of _Aix Provence_ rosé wine, a fact that will without a doubt shock you tomorrow when you realise that Erwin paid the whole tab as you left.

Erwin sat with you in the upscale, dimly lit bar he chose for the evening and listened patiently as you rambled to him about things. About work, about your dad, about your half-siblings, about your mother, about your hatred of high places. The more alcohol you consumed, the less coherent your rambling became in turn, but Erwin didn’t complain. He knew you needed to get things out. But despite everything, you refused to as much as mention Levi’s name.

When you lean back and flush, your stomach finally calmed down, you look defeated.

“I’m sorry, Erwin,” you murmur. You don’t have the nerve to call him impersonally by his last name right now. Not when you’re sitting in his extravagant bathroom, on top of his heated floor having just hurled into his toilet.

He rummages through the cabinets and hands you an unused toothbrush.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says gently. He helps you up on your feet and you brush your teeth with much effort. You then try to navigate your way to wherever the guest room is, but the booze you had makes your limbs feel like they’re made of lead.

Erwin watches you, equal parts amused and taken aback, as you take support from the walls and walk at a snail’s pace.

“Need some help?“ he asks, but you wave him away.

“No,” you mutter stubbornly. “I’ll complete this quest all by myself.”

The part of Erwin’s personality that’s always up for seeing new and amusing things makes him pull back and watch as you traverse through his apartment, maze-like in its size and impressive in its profligacy.

You wander through neatly arranged, recently cleaned and generously furnished rooms, for what feels like ages until you finally find something soft. Without thinking much of it and your drunken brain just glad to have somewhere to crash, you slump down on the bed you found and close your eyes. Progress. Progress is good.

Erwin pauses at the doorway of his bedroom and watches you on his bed. Then, he chuckles and walks to you. He sits down on the edge of the bed. You lay limp, your eyes shut, and for the first time during these last few weeks, you feel remotely familiar and safe. There’s something about the softness of Erwin’s cushions and the silky feeling of thousand-dollar sheets that reminds you of Levi.

You fumble with your skirt and pull it off, suddenly uncomfortable with the way it restrains your movements. You then kick off your stockings and reach under your shirt to lazily unclasp your bra and leave it open under your shirt. Fishing it out from under the snugly buttoned fabric would be too bothersome. Finally comfortable, you curl up in nothing but your shirt and panties. You’re too drunk to register, let alone care, that Erwin has a generous view of your sparsely covered bottom.

Erwin blinks at your carefree attitude towards partial nudity but decides not to make a big deal out of it. Instead, he pulls the covers over you to conceal you from his eyes.

“Erwin,” you murmur into his pillow and crack your eyes open just a little.

“What is it?”

“Levi didn’t leave me and get engaged to someone else because he stopped liking me, right?” you ask, voice tiny and scared. It’s only now, in the intimacy of Erwin’s dimly lit bedroom, that you dare speak Levi’s name and reveal the infected gash that was inflicted that night two weeks ago.

“I’m sure he didn’t,” Erwin answers right away, convinced of his words. You hide a small sniffle into the silky pillow. It smells of fabric softener and Erwin’s shampoo. A combination foreign to you, but it’ll do for the night.

“That good-for-nothing cheater,” you mutter as the tears start streaming down your face and all over Erwin’s expensive sheets. “That closed-off, callous, two-timing jerk. Gets all cosy with me and proposes to me and makes me fall for him just to switch fiancées and throw me out of his life like I’m a ten-dollar rug his dog peed on.”

Erwin stifles a snort of laughter at the crude analogy but otherwise, he listens quietly, his eyes shining with compassion.

“And here I thought we had something special. Then he comes over, fucks me and makes me wake up to the sight of him gone and a letter of termination on my table. That tactless, heartless douche nozzle.”

“It’s because you had something special that he did that,” Erwin tries to comfort you. He strokes your cheek to wipe away some of the tears, to no protests from you.

Hell, you’re so unbelievably drunk and blue that if Erwin offered to sleep with you, you would probably say yes just to get rid of the empty feeling, as well as to childishly antagonise Levi for leaving you in the first place. You would heavily regret it in the morning, but you would let Erwin hold you for tonight.

Erwin does nothing of the sort, though, and instead just pets you quietly as you sob into his pillow.

When you finally pass out half an hour later, he turns you over to your side as a precautionary measure, in case you start puking in your sleep.

Then, he walks to the balcony door situated next to his bed and goes outside.

He leans against the spotless acrylic railing and looks down at the ant-sized cars and street lights, mulling over what happened tonight. He takes out his cell phone and contemplates for a while before dialling Levi’s number.

“What?”

Levi doesn’t sound happy at all when he picks up. He’s in an obviously foul mood, and the steady sound of the keyboard and air conditioning tell Erwin he’s still working, probably at the Ackerman Corp. offices.

“Just asking my friend if he knows what the hell he’s doing,” Erwin hums with a light tone. “Congratulations on your engagement. For a second time.”

“If you’re calling to be a prick then I’m going to hang up,” Levi announces. He’s in no mood for Erwin’s jabs.

“Sorry. I know it’s not easy for you, either. I just… Struggle to think of a good reason why you’d voluntarily go back to your father like this. I thought your deal took care of things.”

“He wanted us to move in,” Levi says. “I couldn’t allow that.”

“Oh? And what could he possibly have held over your head to make you feel like you have no choice but to obey him?”

“You’ll piece it together shortly if you’re smart enough. If you’re not, you don’t deserve to know,” Levi responds.

Erwin walks back inside and closes the door quietly. He watches your sleeping form on the bed.

“Is that all?” Levi asks. “I have work to do.”

“One more thing,” Erwin says and sits back down on the edge of his bed. “I’m very particular about playing fair and adhering to certain rules of friendship, so I think I’m obliged to let you know that your ex-fiancée is currently sleeping in my bed, and her clothes are scattered all around my bedroom floor,” Erwin hums, purposefully misleading.

The growl he gets in response is instantaneous and dangerous.

"Erwin, what the fuck are you up to?” Levi seethes into the phone, and Erwin hears a clack as Levi violently shoves his chair back and gets on his feet. Erwin can almost see the way Levi marches to the door of his office and grabs his coat with the full intention of driving here.

He lets Levi’s anger simmer for a few seconds, just to emit a little bit of revenge on your behalf, before chuckling into the receiver.

“I’m not up to anything. I merely took my secretary out for drinks. She, however, proceeded to drink in excess and pour all of her blue feelings on me. I brought her here to sleep it off but she decided to crash in my bed and strip most of her clothes off to get more comfortable. I haven’t touched her,” he promises. “Even I wouldn’t make a move on a woman when she’s so obviously still in love with someone else. In addition, I believe sleeping with drunk people is a crime.”

He hears Levi take a deep, relieved breath, and sink back in his chair.

“Stop with the vague baiting,” Levi barks, deeply annoyed. Erwin smiles, a small, sadistic edge to his expression.

“Don’t misunderstand things, Levi. You left her. Sooner or later, someone will make her forget you, even if that someone is not me. Are you honestly alright with that?”

Levi is quiet for a long while. Then, finally, he sighs. Tired, defeated, aching.

“I have no choice. Not unless I’m alright with having others’ lives ruined on my behalf.”

“Levi, I say this as your friend. But you’re a self-sacrificing dolt. You should know better than throwing your life away for-”

“Stay out of this,” Levi’s cold order cuts in. “And keep your hands off her. She’s min-”

“She’s loyal to you, for now, but only because she decided to hold on to you instead of letting go. I will be the gentleman you failed to be and be here to dry her tears, but don’t for a second think that you have any right to dictate her life anymore,” Erwin replies, and now it’s his turn to sound cold.

“I’m your friend, Levi, I will always have your back, but I don’t take kindly to you making my assistant cry. I know she’s smart enough not to do anything with me when she’s still mourning, and by the looks of things she seems determined to not give up on you, but if there ever comes a day she approaches me with romantic intentions, I will go for it.”

“I thought you didn’t care for her that much,” Levi points out with a long sigh. “You backed off the second you found out about us.”

“That was not because of my lack of feelings for her but because my loyalty to you triumphed over those feelings. I will happily be her boss and platonic companion and I don’t intend to take advantage of this situation, but if she comes to have feelings for me, I will reciprocate them.”

“You’re an asshole sometimes, did you know that?”

Erwin laughs and leaves you in the bedroom. He makes his way to the guest room and strips before lying down on the queen-sized bed there.

“Not any more than you are, Levi. Maybe that’s why we get along so well. Either way, have fun with your new fiancée. That’s all.”

Erwin hangs up with a small smirk.

Half of that was genuine, but the other half was just to see what kind of reaction he would get out of Levi. To test his conviction and also, admittedly, to punish him a little for making Erwin cooperate with him without telling him all that’s going on. Levi’s response told him a few things.

Whatever Mr Dietrich has over Levi, it’s big.

Levi is vastly unhappy in his current situation but doesn’t know how else to handle things.

Erwin looks at his phone with a small hum.

And…

Levi still has deep feelings for Frida Reader, and it’s likely because of those feelings that he called things off. In fear of breaking the things he loves if he holds on to them too tight.

Only, you’re not about to allow things to go the way Levi’s planned them. You’re going to run after him and shuffle the deck in ways no one, not even Erwin, can foresee.

“Must be nice, to be chased after like that,” Erwin ponders aloud. “I’m jealous. Oh well, you’re a handsome and rich fellow, you’ll find the one eventually,” he pep talks himself and turns off the lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tag yourself, I'm Erwin (and occasionally Levi's driver, I wonder what he's been up to lately). 
> 
> I just can't help it, I love writing Erwin as the Chronic Shitposter™ who just watches the drama unfold with his popcorn but also lowkey tries to care for the girl he has a crush on and his pal.
> 
> Unfortunately there was little Levi in this chapter, but at least Reader found out what's been going on in Ackerman Corp. and got some of dem feels out. I hope you still found this interesting!
> 
> As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts about this chapter. I love hearing your theories and musings and rants, they make me feel nice and motivated to keep writing ^^ So please, maybe leave a comment if you have a spare moment!


	14. Blitz Riesling

When the world returns to you, the first thing you notice is the hellish headache. Your head feels like it’s a raw egg, about to crack open any second now. You groan and hide your face into the nice-smelling pillow.

Only when you realise that the pillow is much too soft and nice to be yours do you gasp and scramble to sit up. You look around the empty room with wide eyes and instantly recognise that it must belong to Erwin.

You look over the heavy beige curtains that have been pulled over the large windows, the balcony door that’s cracked open, letting in just a tiny shimmer of light and some much-needed fresh air, the king-sized bed and the oak bedside table, on which sits a large glass of water and some painkillers. Erwin must have brought them here for you.

You take them gratefully and focus on recalling last night’s events. You remember ranting to him about an embarrassing number of things. You also remember him taking you back here and you hurling in his toilet. By the time you get to the part where you took his bed and stripped, you’re facepalming, and when you remember your tears, you feel like crawling in a hole to die with whatever little dignity you have left.

Despite this, you grit your teeth, swallow the painkillers and get dressed before leaving the bedroom. A glance at the large pendulum clock in the hallway tells you it’s nearly eleven in the morning. You wince, not only did you hoard Erwin’s bed, you slept well into the morning.

You find Erwin sitting on his couch with a newspaper in his hands.

“There’s coffee in the pot. I just made it,” Erwin calls without turning. You flinch and sheepishly take him up on the offer. With a steaming hot cup of what smells like quality dark roast, you walk to the large and bright living room and sit down on one of the leather armchairs. Erwin gives you a short smile over his newspaper and then goes back to reading like nothing happened.

“Sorry about last night,” you start after a moment’s silence. An amused smile raises to Erwin’s cheeks.

“No need to apologise. It was quite entertaining.”

“I’m glad one of us is happy,” you murmur. But you feel a certain kind of closeness to Erwin now. He’s seen you at your absolute worst but he still treats you with kindness and dignity.

Erwin finishes his newspaper. He gets on his feet and stretches his limbs.

“Time for a refreshing shower,” he decides. He finds a particular page on the newspaper and leaves it open on the heavy, wooden coffee table as he walks away. You raise an eyebrow and peek at whatever Erwin left you with.

_Former Head of Ackerman Corporation Released_

You frown and hurry to grab the newspaper.

_Kenny Ackerman, the former head of Ackerman Corporation, has been released from jail. Arrested on the 17th of August, Ackerman is now pending trial. The head of Ackerman’s investigation, Mona Münther, commented that he is currently pending charges for breaking and entering._

_According to Münther, the charges for attempted kidnapping have been dropped. The owner of the property, who wishes to remain anonymous, has confirmed that there is no basis for suspecting Ackerman of more than breaking and entering at this point._

_Levi Ackerman, the current chairman of Ackerman Corporation as well as Kenny Ackerman’s nephew, has refused all requests for comment._

So, Kenny got released and his charges have gone from felony to misdemeanour. You wonder if this relates to the whole mess with Levi and his father, but you know you don’t have the whole picture, or even enough of it to jump to any kind of conclusions.

You place the newspaper down with an absent-minded hum. Now that you’ve gotten the feels off your chest, however embarrassing that was, it’s time to come up with a plan. You’ve cried enough.

As Mr Dietrich is at the forefront of Levi’s case and you know virtually nothing about him, you decide that the first course of action is to try to find out as much as possible about him. You don’t as much as know what he does for a living.

You finish your coffee and get up. You wander around the apartment until you locate where the steady sound of running water is coming from. You yell a thank you to Erwin through the door, for taking you in for the night, and politely decline his offer to get a driver to take you home. You’ll pay for your own taxi.

As you get back to your messy apartment, you waste no time with taking out your laptop and sitting down on the couch to do some research.

You start by simply googling the name _Sigmund Dietrich_. You browse through an endless supply of Facebook profiles and LinkedIn accounts, none of which seem to belong to Levi’s father.

You pour yourself a cup of _Blitz Riesling_ white wine while expertly ignoring the part of your brain calling you an almost-alcoholic. You sip on the wine as you browse through the swamp of needless information. Social media seems to be a dead end. You’re not too surprised, Mr Dietrich is of the older generation after all.

The next step is using directory assistance. You give Mr Dietrich’s name and the name of your city, and you’re informed that there are either no records or they are confidential. You curse to yourself a bit and turn to the government registries instead.

It takes a while to fish out Mr Dietrich’s social security number from your e-mail, but you eventually find a copy of his passport from years back, when you reserved flights for him and Levi to fly across the country for a funeral. You recall Levi was very reluctant to go but eventually decided to honour his father’s mother by being there for her funeral, even if it meant having to spend time with his father.

You feed Mr Dietrich’s social security number in the search field. You first check criminal records but find none. You then check other records, and that’s where you find something that makes your eyebrows raise.

You see that Mr Dietrich got married in 1981 but divorced in 2017. He then got remarried in early 2018.

You check his marital status and frown a little when you notice that his wife is listed as Kuchel Dietrich. You remember Mr Dietrich mentioning that name during one of his visits, a little before Levi started talking about marriage. You check the earlier marriage and notice his wife was Kuchel Dietrich then as well. He got married to the same person twice. Thus, Kuchel must be Levi’s mother.

So, Levi’s parents had a separation period. You wonder if Levi knows that. You wonder what triggered the separation and what triggered their reunion. Then again, many people break up just to get back together later.

You try to look for Kuchel’s social security number but can’t find it anywhere. You don’t recall ever seeing her or talking to her. You wonder if she’s at all involved in this.

The last thing you check is Mr Dietrich’s taxation and note that he earns a very comfortable living with his own life coaching and hosting business, with some additional income from renting out property and other investments. So, likely Mr Dietrich has his own consulting firm and he makes a living by giving presentations about things like productivity and efficiency to his business clients. Sounds about what you’d expect from him. Even before inheriting Kenny Ackerman’s position, Levi likely lived a very privileged life.

You finish the wine and close the lid of your laptop. You found out a little bit, but at the same time, you feel like this generated more questions than answers.

It is only now that you think of checking your phone. It’s been forgotten in your bag since last night, and when you take it out, you note there’s a new message.

It’s Armin.

_Sorry if I misread things, but you looked like you wanted to ask._

At the end of the message is a link to Twitter. You frown and click on it, just to open the profile of someone you don’t know.

The link takes you to one of their tweets, a photo that was taken in what looks like one of the Ackerman Corporation’s hallways. It’s the back of who’s undeniably Levi, walking next to a young woman you don’t recognise. She looks to be about your age.

She’s dressed in a standard combination of tight-fitting jeans and a simple, pink shirt. The photo is very sharp, and you quietly surmise one of the people from the office must have taken it and sent it to whoever this Twitter handle belongs to.

 _FYI, the fiancée of Levi Ackerman is just some basic bitch,_ the tweet reads. The small, jealous part of your brain mentally high-fives whoever published this, but you don’t allow yourself to get too happy about the verbal abuse. You don’t yet know if she has any part in this or deserves the harsh words.

You look at her left hand, and to your relief, the ring she’s wearing is rose gold with a huge diamond on it, nothing like the subtle, elegant white gold ring Levi got you. If he gave her your ring, you would feel twice as horrible about all this.

You’re just about to close the tab and tell Armin off for being a gossip, but your eyes land on something on her wrist.

You’ve seen that bracelet before.

Quickly, the dots connect in your head and you realise it’s the exact same kind of bracelet Mr Dietrich sent you in the mail. The one that Levi threw off the building.

Is that Mr Dietrich’s way of approving of a hopeful bride-to-be? Or does he just like that bracelet in general?

You stare at the bracelet for a moment before you force yourself to close the tab.

Nothing good will come out of starting to compare yourself to whoever Levi’s engaged to right now. But from that picture, you piece together that she must be someone Mr Dietrich approves of. Maybe he even chose her for him.

Well, whatever it is, you’re committed to dedicating this weekend for fishing out information about Levi’s father.

-

“You look tired.”

“Thank you, sir,” you mutter at Erwin as you pour him his morning coffee on Monday.

You spent all weekend trying to dig up anything about Levi’s father (or mother) but found nothing. No news articles, public court records, phone number or address that’s public, nothing that you could use. The only thing you could do was to order a copy of the public marriage certificates of both of his marriages to Levi’s mother, a thin hope that you’ll find something from those.

You already doubt it. But, as of now, it seems like you have no choice but to wait the week or so those documents take to deliver.

“Still hungover?”

You pause to look at Erwin. You’ve asked him. More than once, and you know he won’t tell you anything. But aside from those likely uneventful marriage certificates, you’re coming out empty. You have no idea how to start with this.

“Mr Smith,” you try. “I’m asking you once more. No, I’m begging you. Is there nothing you could tell me? No hint you could give me? No one you could direct me to who knows more?” you ask and place the coffee pot on the table.

“I just spent an entire weekend shuffling through everything I could on the Internet and I found nothing. Levi will tell me nothing and you’ve both warned me to stay away from Mr Dietrich. I’m running out of ideas.”

Erwin gives you a thoughtful look and sighs.

“You know my reasoning. I’m in no way involved, so I don’t feel like it’s my place to tell you anything Levi doesn’t want you to know.”

You sigh, defeated, and wonder if you’ve just hit a wall you can’t climb. There’s no one here who agrees to tell you a thing, and by the looks of things there’s nothing in public records to go off on either.

Erwin watches your tired, dejected expression before giving a long, resigned sigh.

“I don’t feel comfortable telling you anything myself because it’s not my place. I do, however, have the contact information of someone who might be able to provide you with some information-”

“I’ll do it,” you reply immediately. You snap your head up, your eyes filled with sparkling determination. Erwin smiles to himself a little. He always liked your smile.

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll get in touch with him and ask if he’ll agree to meet you.”

That’s more than you could’ve hoped for and you suddenly feel a strong urge to leap to Erwin and hug him.

He looks at your excitement with a gentle smile, and you’re not sure if you’re just imagining it, but to you, it also looks a bit sombre.

“Thank you, Erwin,” you say sincerely, purposefully using his first name because you want this to be a more personal thank you. He chuckles and waves his hand.

“It’s not an issue. Just don’t get your hopes up too much, he’s known for being a rather difficult person to get along with.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” you beam. Finally, something you can latch onto.

-

When Wednesday evening comes around and you park your car at the establishment where Erwin said this informant of his had agreed to meet, you feel a whole lot less confident than you did upon leaving your apartment.

It’s a complete and utter dive bar with a couple passed out hobos at the front, a shabby-looking bouncer and a rugged exterior.

You stick out like a sore thumb in your sharp business attire, but despite that you march right in, ignoring the confused looks you get from everyone in close vicinity.

The interior is none the better than the exterior. You look at the dirty bar counter, the booths with raspy cushions and when you walk further inside, the soles of your heels instantly get a little stuck to the floor, sticky with either dried out beer or something else you prefer not to know.

You look around warily.

There are a few portraits and pictures around the Ackerman Corporation’s office building and thus, it doesn’t take you a long time to recognise the person sitting in one of the corners, hunched over a glass of beer.

You walk over to the booth and sit down across from him.

“Mr Ackerman,” you call over the sound of the heavy rock music. He looks up and his face, wrinkled and blotched from several decades of alcohol and tobacco consumption, turns to a small grin.

You look over his attire, which gives no hints about his former life as a glamorous CEO. The black, worn-out leather jacket, stained jeans and boots bordering on unusable paint the image of someone who makes a living as a motorbike gang member, not someone who receives a very generous pension from a multi-billion-dollar corporation.

“Frida Reader,” Kenny Ackerman replies, his voice raspy from excessive smoking. His teeth are stained and a little yellow, and he looks decent amounts of drunk already.

“Nice to meet you, sir, I’m your nephew’s former-”

“Yeah yeah, I frankly don’t care what you are, doll,” he disregards bluntly and takes a deep draught out of his drink. So, this side of his family is where Levi likely gets his snappy way of communication.

“All I know is that I owe a favour to Erwin Smith and he asked me to meet up with you.”

You nod.

“It’s about your nephew. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but he’s gotten engaged.”

“I know that,” Kenny snorts. “That little shit made sure to sass me out for it plenty.”

“What do you mean?” you ask and lean in a little. Kenny gives you a look that’s not too fond.

“What’s it to you?”

“I merely wish to know what’s going on. Before his current fiancée, he was engaged to me.”

Kenny hums, not shocked by the news. He finishes his drink and walks to the counter to order another one. He comes back with two glasses of rum and slides one of them over to you.

“Drink up and forget about him, doll. That’s all I’ve got to say to you.”

“I can’t,” you say. You decide to be as honest as you can. You accept the drink but take only small sips as you tell Kenny everything as a last-ditch effort to make him talk. Maybe, if he knows the extent of your feelings and the amount of investment you’ve put in, he’ll feel compelled to talk.

Kenny listens as you tell everything from the beginning. How you were hired at Ackerman Corp., how Levi handpicked you to be his assistant, how he started making advances on you, how you got acquainted with Erwin Smith, how Levi proposed to you, how you travelled abroad and fell in love, and finally, how Levi dismissed you out of the blue and how you went through considerable effort trying to figure out why.

“I know his father has a lot to do with it. I just don’t know what’s going on exactly,” you finish. Kenny stays quiet, mulling over the information while twirling what little drink he has left in his glass.

“So, you’re saying you’re in love with that little shit and will keep chasing him no matter what?” he finally asks. You nod with a serious expression.

Kenny sighs and finishes his second drink. He then gets up to get a third one.

When he staggers back and slumps down across from you, he doesn’t look snarky anymore, he looks tired.

“Just trust me, doll, forget about him. For your own safety. He’s out of your reach now. He’s out of everyone’s reach, even mine.”

“But why?” you ask desperately. Kenny sighs, staring into his gin tonic. He then makes up his mind.

“Fine. I’ll tell you everything. Maybe that will snap you back to your senses when you realise what kind of people you’re trying to get involved with.”

He sips on his drink, lets out a groan, and falls quiet, trying to decide how to start telling the complicated story.

“Do you know Mitras Underground?” he finally asks. You frown. The name rings a bell but you have to dig your brain for a moment to connect it to a description.

“The cult?” you eventually recall with an updrawn eyebrow. Kenny nods.

“Levi grew up in that cult and his father, Mr Dietrich, is the founder and leader.”

At that, you blink. You’ve heard the name before. You were aware that Mitras Underground is a cult or religion of sorts that operates in the area. However, thanks to them keeping a low profile and not campaigning for mass murder or mass suicide, they have gone mostly under the radar for you. You don’t recall reading too much about them, just a headline or two about how they exist and live in isolation.

“So, the _life coaching_ Mr Dietrich does is actually cult leadership?” you ask. Kenny nods.

“To put it shortly, it’s a small-ish cult built around worshipping Sigmund Dietrich as a holy being. He started gathering a following in the early 80s with his dogma about all sorts of mumbo-jumbo, cosmic connections, carrying out the will of the benevolent guardian spirit they all believe in, a whole bunch of crap if you ask me.”

You’re gaping.

“Good old Sigmund has a whole community under his leadership who believe he’s a god and can heal them from various illnesses by remotely entering their body and chasing away impurities, change their fate by communicating with their guardian spirits, all sorts of things that would be hilarious were they not so effective on the fools who follow him.”

“This community… How large is it?” you ask cautiously. Kenny shrugs.

“We don’t know for certain but we suspect it’s somewhere in the hundreds. They all live together in a manor Sigmund owns. They purposefully keep their heads low and don’t attract attention to themselves. There are no sensational stories of people escaping and blabbering to the press, nor are there acts of terrorism or arranged self-harm, so they’re mostly just discarded as a bunch of harmless village crazies. Most people don’t even know anything about them. What little press coverage Sigmund got in the 80s was quickly buried, and nowadays his name is all but unknown to the public,” Kenny explains, his raspy voice barely audible over the rock music blasting through the speakers.

“So, how does the cult fund itself?” you ask.

“Inside the manor is a very patriarchal hierarchy. Men work outside and pay most of their salaries to Sigmund as rent and utilities. Women work domestically to maintain the facility and teach the children. Kids are mostly home-schooled and only go to regular schools for the minimum amount dictated by law.”

“So they isolate their members as much as possible,” you summarise. Kenny nods.

“From an early age, they’re discouraged from interacting with outsiders too much. Too much association may tarnish their body or soul and make them more susceptible to impurities. And the only way to get rid of those impurities is to have Sigmund spiritually enter their body and cleanse them.”

“And Levi grew up thinking that?” you ask. Kenny gives you a small smirk and for a moment, he looks proud.

“No. Now Kuchel is a different story. She met him when she was just 18. A young and naïve little thing, she fell head over heels in love. Honestly, I can see why. Sigmund was, still is, very suave and thrives on manipulating people. An older, good-looking gentleman with a devoted following who gives excessive attention to a young woman who just lost her parents. It was hook, line and sinker. I was too busy dealing with my grief by pouring all of my waking hours into my start-up company to notice that she was getting indoctrinated at an alarming speed. By the time I realised what had happened, she’d moved to the manor and refused to listen to anything critical of her beloved Sigmund.”

Kenny downs his drink and gets another one. You listen quietly as he rambles on.

“Levi was born in the manor. From the get-go, he was padded to follow his father’s footsteps and take over the cult once he got too old. They told the followers that he possesses the same abilities his father does. Seemingly, Levi was happy with his position and did as he was told. But well…” Kenny trailed off with a smirk.

“You weren’t about to let it happen?” you give an educated guess. Kenny chuckles and shakes his head.

“No matter how hard I tried to change Kuchel’s mind, it was in vain. But at least Levi I could try and save. Levi wasn’t a dumb kid, that helped things considerably. Luckily, Kuchel, despite our differing views, for a time held enough lingering attachment to her older brother to argue for my right to see her and my nephew. I’d use my sparse moments alone with Levi by giving him little nuggets of information that contradicted his worldview. Like the smart kid he is, he took those nuggets and thought about them. It also helped that he lived with his father, he saw more than just the polished image he presented to his followers. He saw the temper tantrums, the drinking, the way he treated his wife, and as Levi got older, the scales began to fall from his eyes. I helped, but he came to the conclusion that his father is a rotten man all by himself.”

That sounds like something Levi would do, and you can’t help but feel a little proud of him. You always knew your boss and fiancé is extraordinarily independent. And you now understand what he said on the plane much better. He fears not being able to think for himself. His childhood inside the cult has traumatised him and made him scared of getting indoctrinated again. Maybe that’s why he avoids socialisation, he sees every person as a potential manipulator just trying to make him buy their narrative.

“So, how did you get him away from there?”

Kenny gives you a self-congratulatory smirk.

“Well, I told Levi to hold his horses and play a good son while I sort things out. Meanwhile, I negotiated with Sigmund. I struck a deal with him. I asked to let Levi attend gymnasium. It was easy enough to argue for, many male children continue on to secondary education since they’re set to become the breadwinners and there aren’t many occupations that accept people without it. After gymnasium, they usually go to blue-collar jobs and start their life as workers. I, however, talked Sigmund into allowing Levi to attend university.”

“How did you do that?” you ask, intrigued.

“Well, by offering to let him inherit my business and bring in the dough to the cult,” Kenny explains with a grin. “Sigmund is not immune to greed and the opportunity to have his son earn him millions proved too tempting to turn down. Levi got in a top university easily, and I managed to convince Sigmund to allow Levi to live on-campus because forming business relations and networking as early as possible is an integral part of becoming a good businessman. And, well, he was too arrogant to even entertain the thought that his own son might turn his back on him. Plus, he thought Levi would be returning to him after graduation and he’d have time to re-indoctrinate him before he’d become the CEO.”

You move to the edge of your seat and take a sip of your drink, completely immersed in the story.

“The second Levi graduated, I scooped him away. I gave him my position and subsequently, the power and money necessary to keep his father at bay. Needless to say, after pulling that stunt, I was no longer welcome anywhere within close vicinity of Sigmund or Kuchel.” Kenny grins, albeit a little sadly.

“Despite all that, Levi is still in contact with his father and now went back to him,” you point out. “Why?”

“Sigmund never gave up on trying to get Levi back. Kuchel has been a bargaining chip for as long as this has been going on. Sigmund has created a situation where, if Levi wants to hear how his mother is doing, he has to go through him. It’s the only form of control Sigmund can exercise over his son, and now he’s tightened his hold further as the situation changed.”

“What do you mean?”

Kenny’s grin melts down to a sombre smile. He sips on his drink.

“Kuchel is ill. She has a cancerous tumour in her womb that they haven’t been able to remove with chemotherapy or radiation therapy.”

“How does that relate? Is Levi getting married because his mother can’t be cured and it’s her dying wish?”

Kenny chuckles bitterly.

“I wish it was something that poetic. No, it’s about Kuchel’s life. Remember what I told you earlier about how Sigmund has the whole cult thinking he can treat anything? Well, to retain more power over his subjects, his dogma bans intrusive treatment such as blood transplants and surgeries.”

You think it over and when you catch the implication, your jaw drops open.

“No way,” you say, shocked. “There’s no way Mr Dietrich would-”

“He made a deal with Levi. Levi marries and gives the cult an offspring to raise, who will inherit Ackerman Corp. when they are of suitable age, and Kuchel will be allowed to get a surgery to remove the tumour in all secrecy, despite it being against the rules.”

“He’s using his wife’s life as a bargaining chip?!” you hiss, shocked and infuriated and only distantly noting that the information makes Levi’s reaction to you asking about having kids make a lot more sense. Kenny nods.

“But he can’t ban her from getting treatment, she can just-”

“You underestimate how thoroughly she’s been brainwashed, doll. You can’t force someone to have an operation, and she, at this point, believes her husband is a god and all he says is gospel. I tried to go in and talk some sense into her, even take her with me by force if need to. It was my final effort at getting my little sister back, but she wasn’t in her room and they found and apprehended me before I could find her.”

“That’s why you were arrested. You broke into Mr Dietrich’s manor, and he knew what you were up to, thus why he accused you of attempted kidnapping,” you summarise. Kenny scoffs.

“That bastard used that to stifle whatever fight Levi had left in him. Sigmund struck a deal with Levi; Levi moves back to the manor and Sigmund will pull some strings to lessen my charges to mere breaking and entering instead of attempted burglary and attempted kidnapping which would probably have landed me in prison for whatever booze-filled years I have left.”

A look of understanding spread on your face. So, Levi dumped you because he wanted to keep you away from the cult.

“I tried to tell him not to, it doesn’t matter to me whether I drink myself to death in prison or in my home, but he did it anyway. Stupid kid, always thought he owed me for getting him out when me saving him was to repent for my failure at saving my little sister.”

Kenny looks out of the smudged window and sighs deeply to himself. He looks tormented.

“Did you know they divorced?” you ask. Kenny gives you a perplexed look. “Mr Dietrich divorced his wife just to get re-married not a year later. Maybe Mrs Dietrich tried to get away,” you suggest. Kenny looks doubtful.

“The last time I saw her, she wasn’t interested in anything but serving her husband. If you want my educated guess, they divorced at Sigmund’s demand. It was probably a tool he used to punish her and further tighten his control over her before starting this game with Levi. Forcing her to divorce and making her earn her place back as his spouse sounds exactly like the kind of manipulative bullshit Sigmund would pull to reassure his wife stays in line throughout this whole ordeal. Kuchel would be beside herself if she was forced to divorce, and her devotion to Sigmund would be cemented even further before her heretic of a son returns to the manor.”

Oh. That makes a lot of sense. And it also makes your stomach tighten with newfound disgust for Mr Dietrich. Kenny gives you a joyless smile and empties his last drink.

“Sigmund Dietrich is too large a target for someone like you to take down, even my nephew and I, for all our money and influence, couldn’t do it. Levi is beyond our grasp now. He chose to go back to his father, he will move back to the manor after marrying one of the brain-washed girls from the cult and we can’t change his mind.”

You press your lips together. You refuse to believe that.

Taking out your cell phone, you find the picture of Levi and his fiancée and show it to Kenny.

“Do you know her?” you ask. Kenny shakes his head.

“No, but she’s a part of Mitras Underground.”

“How do you know that?”

He points at the bracelet.

“That’s their symbol, the diamond with a black stone in the middle,” he explains.

“O-oh,” you utter.

You think back, and Levi’s reaction to when Mr Dietrich gave that same bracelet to you makes much more sense now. You saw it as a harmless gift, Levi saw it as Mr Dietrich marking a woman he intended to add to his cult. From the very beginning, Levi has been protecting you from his father while desperately trying to save his mother.

You think of how lonely he must be feeling right now, and your heart aches. You fully realise how dangerous this is. But as you get up and thank Kenny for the information, you feel like something’s off. Something about Kenny’s story feels out of place. You just can’t put your finger on what.

But one thing is for sure. You can’t leave it be before you talk it out with Levi. You have the information, the figurative plot twist has been revealed, now you just need to confront Levi with it.

When you slam the car door shut after yourself, you immediately take out your phone and dial Erwin’s number.

“Please tell me all the gossip,” Erwin hums and you can almost see him sitting on his couch with a glass of wine, ready to savour the tea you’re about to spill.

“I know now. About Levi, the cult, his father, his mother’s illness and all that came with it. Levi left me because his father held Kenny Ackerman’s freedom over his head to make him move back home. He didn’t want to involve me with Mitras Underground.”

“I’m impressed, Mr Ackerman told you everything,” Erwin whistles. “I knew the first half, but I didn’t know why Levi left you until I saw the headlines about Mr Ackerman’s release. It’s truly an unfortunate situation. Alas, I think you now understand why it’s for the best if you step bac-”

“I’m not calling to have a defeated heart-to-heart, Erwin,” you tell him, your voice sincere and firm. You drop the impersonal talk. When you’re discussing like this, you’ve come to see him as a friend and confidant, not a business partner or employer.

“Then why are you calling me, Frida?” he asks patiently.

“I’m calling to ask for permission to come in late tomorrow morning.”

“And why is that?” Erwin inquires. You can hear the grin in his voice, the giddy curiosity as if he can already sense you’re going to say something very amusing.

“I’m going to barge in my ex-fiancé’s office and start a fight about everything I learnt today because there’s no way in hell I’ll accept this,” you tell him, calm and purposeful. Erwin immediately bursts into laughter.

“Oh how I love the timeline I’m living,” he chuckles to himself. “Alright. Permission granted. Just promise to share the insults Levi throws at you with me.”

“Stop treating this like it’s a soap opera,” you scold him, but you can’t help the smile. In the midst of all this chaos, Erwin has been a good friend and irreplaceable ally.

“You must forgive me. It’s just the first time someone’s challenged Levi like this and seeing him constantly struggle with figuring out how to handle it is rather invigorating.”

You snort.

“Well, as long as you help me where you can,” you mutter. “I’ll try to be at IntelAcc around noon tomorrow.”

“Do take your time, especially if you think staying longer would make for a better story,” Erwin replies playfully. You chuckle and hang up.

You come up with a plan on the spot and a dozen minutes later, you call someone else.

Armin only takes a couple of rings to pick up and he sounds obviously flustered. You’ve never called him before, and his text was the first time he ever contacted you outside of work.

“Assistant Reader?” he asks, stuttering a little. “Why are you calling me? Are you going to scold me for sending the link? I _knew_ I shouldn’t have but Ms Zoë told me to trust my intuition-”

“I’m not mad. I need a favour,” you tell him, straightforward.

“A… A favour?”

“I’m going to break into Mr Ackerman’s office tomorrow morning to give him an earful, and I need to do so undetected. And you’re going to help me unless you want me to send the Chairman a screenshot of you gossiping to me about his new fiancée.”

Armin is quiet for a long time. Then, he sighs profoundly.

“Fine. If I get fired because of you, you had better get me a new job,” he murmurs. “I’m only doing this because the Chairman has been so scary lately, and I suspect it has to do with you. Not because you’re threatening to have the Chairman yell at me and the thought makes my whole body shake with uncontrollable dread.”

“I’ll buy you a drink and explain everything once this is all over,” you promise. “Thanks, Armin.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Armin says, and he sounds sincerely worried. It’s your time to sigh. You look out of the car window, at the unruly neighbourhood around the bar. Kenny’s still drinking inside.

You now know the whole story and you wonder if you should feel afraid. Dabbling with cults of any sort is never a good idea, and by the looks of it, Mr Dietrich is a ruthless, manipulative man. If anything, you should probably be thankful Levi made you dodge the bullet.

But you can’t leave things as is because you’re in love with Levi. That self-sacrificing dolt who threw his life away to protect his mother and the woman he fancies. You know you might regret it later, but you can’t allow things to end like this.

“I hope so too, Armin,” you mutter, and hang up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cat is out of the bag so to speak and we now know Levi's full deal. All that's left is for Reader to find a way out for poor Levi.
> 
> Surprised? Disappointed? Excited? I'd love to hear your thoughts about this whole situation I have crafted for the characters because even though I planned this from the beginning and have been dropping clues basically since day one, I'm still nervous that you guys thought it was either too obvious or too unbelievable/insufficiently hinted at ^^; So, please give me your thoughts if you have any and feel comfortable doing so!
> 
> But yay, that being said we're slowly approaching the climax. Reader is done crying and ready for action! Also, I originally intended to have this chapter be two separate chapters (the first ending with Reader seeing Kenny), but I eventually merged them into one because it made more sense and I wanted to avoid yet another cliffhanger - even though the end of this chapter is semi-cliffhanger as well whoops. Anyway, this means phase three will end a chapter earlier (Chapter 17). The chapter count will remain the same as I had an epilogue planned either way that I was going to add as Chapter 21, now it'll just be Chapter 20 :)
> 
> I'm happy to get to the point where there are no more secrets between an author and her readers, and I hope you're curious to know what's to happen in the next three chapters that make up the climax ^^
> 
> I'm eagerly waiting for whatever comments you may want to throw my way and I'll see you next time!


	15. Cranberry White

It’s quarter past nine when your footsteps stop in front of the Ackerman Corp. offices. You dropped off your car at IntelAcc and walked the short distance here. You look up the intimidating building, and if you squint you can see the top floor where your goal lies. Levi’s office.

It’s time to get this over with.

You check your phone and see a message from Erwin wishing you good luck (and reminding you to tell him all the juicy details once you get back to the office). You snort and push your cell phone back into your pocket.

You look around, just to see Levi’s driver leaning against the driver side door of the limousine Levi usually takes to work. He’s leisurely drinking a takeaway cup of coffee. When he spots you, standing in front of the building with a nervous expression fixed on your face, he smiles at you encouragingly and gives you a thumbs up.

“It will go fine, Miss!” he calls to you.

“Thank you, Mr Abboud,” you reply with a forced smile.

“Trust me, Miss. He’ll be happy to see you, even if he pretends otherwise. I’m his driver, I would know,” Mr Abboud attempts to encourage you. You nod and take a deep breath.

It’s showtime.

Talking the lady at the reception into letting you up with the pretence of forgetting something turns out to be fearfully easy. Everyone still recognises you after all and you have no reason to lie.

The elevator trip seems to last forever. The Boy from Ipanema, the instrumental version, is playing in the background.

“Seriously,” you murmur to yourself and fiddle the bracelet on your wrist. “It just had to be the most typical of elevator kinds of music.”

When you hear the familiar ring that signals you’ve arrived at the top, you bite your lip. As the doors open, you jolt when you see Armin’s antsy figure waiting for you outside.

“Morning, Assistant Reader,” he greets. He’s clutching the sleeve of his suit. It’s still a tad too big on him, you note. He hasn’t fixed it, even after all these weeks.

“Morning, Armin,” you greet. “You ready? Where’s the Chairman?”

“He walked to his office in the morning and hasn’t come out since,” Armin informs you. “His assistant is there as well.”

“Just as I surmised,” you hum and nod. “Alright. We’ll go with the original plan, then.”

Armin pales a little.

“You- you mean with the-”

“Yes. Levi’s fiancée isn’t here today is she?”

Armin shakes his head. He looks excessively worried and his hands are suddenly shaking a bit. You smile at him.

“Don’t worry. No one will know it’s you. And if you get in trouble, just say I blackmailed you into it.”

Armin takes a deep breath and nods.

“Alright. I’m off then.”

“Good luck. I owe you one.”

“You owe me a hundred,” Armin mutters as he turns away and walks into the elevator behind you. You smile a bit and swiftly walk down the corridor towards Levi’s office.

You know there’s a bathroom just outside the door that leads to your former office. You know the procedure of visitations, Levi’s assistant has to gain approval from Levi to admit anyone into his office and you know he will tell her to turn you away if you just walk in and ask her to let you through. Thus, you need to lure her out.

You go into the bathroom and leave the door ajar so you can tell what’s going on in the corridor. You wait for a few minutes and hope Armin gets the plan moving before the morning coffee catches up to Historia Reiss as it usually does around this time.

You flinch when the grandiose opera starts blasting through the speaker system in the whole building. You wait, tense, ears perked.

Levi’s yell is so loud you can hear it to the corridor.

“ASSISTANT! FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON AND GET THAT MUSIC OFF! NOW!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The door to Levi’s office flies open and you see a woman practically sprint past you towards the elevators, without a doubt on her way to the sixteenth floor where the broadcast room is situated.

You wait a moment until she’s far enough and then send Armin a text telling him that he can turn the music off.

You slip out of the bathroom and walk straight into your former office, now empty. You quickly note that Levi’s new assistant seems to have a thing for Salvador Dali, as she has a poster of melting clocks next to her desk.

You don’t stop to analyse her taste in interior design for long though but instead, march past her desk to Levi’s door.

You walk right in before you have time to freak out. The opera cuts off abruptly just as you yank the handle.

You avoid looking towards Levi’s desk until you’ve securely made it inside and locked the door after yourself. You look up to see Levi’s back. He’s turned to face the window, a cell phone in his hand. Without a doubt, he was trying to call whoever’s responsible for the broadcasting inside the building.

“Back already, Assistant Berka? In that case, go make me a new pot of Cranberry White tea, you clearly brewed this in water that’s much too hot, how many times do I have to tell you-”

“You still hate opera, huh,” you interrupt him coolly and cross your arms. You see Levi’s form stiffen and it takes him a moment to turn around.

You don’t see his expression when his back is towards you, but he’s clearly gathering his nerves and steeling his will because he looks calm when he faces you.

“I should have known you’d come here sooner or later,” Levi snorts and raises an eyebrow. You glance at his joined hands just to see a different engagement ring on his finger. This one is thin and looks like it’s made of gold. It’s way plainer than the one he wore when he was engaged to you, a fact that’s of odd consolation to you.

“Yeah. I have a bone to pick with you,” you announce and detach your back from the locked door. You walk up to Levi with a determined, firm expression.

“I told you all you need to know. It’s over,” Levi announces dully.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

You pause in front of Levi’s desk and carelessly hop to sit on it, reminiscent of the time in Philadelphia. Levi looks surprised for a second, an expression soon replaced by that of annoyance.

“What do you think you’re doing, Assistant?”

“Sitting on your desk,” you hum. “What? I’m sure you’ve bent that fiancée of yours over this desk plenty,” you jab. He clenches his teeth with a look of utter distaste on his face.

“As if I’d do anything with someone like her,” he seethes. You raise an eyebrow.

“Not your type?”

“You could say that,” Levi grunts. You grab his tie and lean in, your eyes sharp an keen on him despite the leisurely tone of your voice.

“Hmm, I see. Well, fucking a brainwashed cult chick who’s been conditioned to believe she’s your inferior might get a little boring after a while,” you hum.

Levi opens his mouth to retort before he processes what you said. Then, a shocked look spreads on his face. His eyes widen and he abruptly grabs the collar of your crinkly, white shirt.

“Who told you? Was it Erwin?” he asks.

“I had the pleasure of meeting your uncle. Lovely fellow, if not a bit of a drunkard,” you inform him. A look of understanding comes on Levi’s face and in a split second, he turns angry.

“So, you went snooping behind my back?” he accuses and lets go of your shirt just to shove your hand off him. You notice his gaze lingers on the bracelet for just a moment.

“What else was I supposed to do? You just disappeared on me and left me with no answers,” you clap back unhappily.

“You had no right to violate my privacy by-”

“I wouldn’t have had to do that if you had a sliver of trust in me!” you bark. You’re having none of Levi’s attitude today. “You never trusted me, never! Had you just told me what’s going on then I would’ve helped you! We could have solved this together!”

“There’s nothing to solve!” Levi bellows back. You see the crease between his eyebrows, the tension in his jaws as they press together, the way his chest heaves with agitation. But he doesn’t look like a beast ready to fight, he looks like a cornered dog, growling but with his tail securely between his legs.

“So, is that what you’re going to do?! Just toss your life away for your mother?!”

“You know nothing,” Levi spits out. “Just because I put my dick in you a few times doesn’t mean you have the right to keep appearing in my life after I left you.”

That hurt and the way you flinch conveys that to Levi. But you refuse to back down. He can keep shoving you away like the stubborn geezer he is, but you will keep chasing until your legs are broken and your voice no longer carries.

“I meant more to you than that,“ you tell him angrily. You don’t buy his harsh words for a second. “Why else would you have left me to keep me safe from your father? You’re moving to the manor after you marry, right?”

Levi growls a little, unhappy you seem to be in the know about everything.

“It’s still not too late. You haven’t gotten married yet,” you appeal. “Maybe we can reason with your father, he must have some lingering attachment to you.”

“My father is a megalomaniac nutcase. The extent of his fatherly love was to allow me to live by myself before the wedding and arrange my life properly before my return to the manor,” Levi announces.

“Well, if that’s the case, then how do you know he’s not scamming you? How do you know he actually allows your mother to get the surgery?!”

“I pay for her medical bills, I see it on the receipts, she’s currently planning to go into surgery within a week from the wedding,” Levi answers and he suddenly looks apathetic. Tired.

“And everyone’s happy with this?!” you shriek. You grab his tie again and shake him lightly by it. “No mother wants to see her child throw their life away for her!”

“Shut up. Shut up! SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Levi yells, his composure snaps and suddenly, you’re pushed down on the desk. You see Levi’s face, contorted with barely held back sorrow and anger. You look over his face, and if it weren’t for the fact that you know Levi would never hurt you, you would maybe feel a bit intimidated.

But as it is now, you just feel like you’re facing someone who’s cornered and scared. You see the small child who’s still inside Levi, who still remembers the loneliness and pain of growing up inside a cult, with a father who was always more interested in using him as a tool.

“You have no idea what it’s like. Not seeing your mother for ten years, having her loathe you, seeing your father hurt her day after day. I always knew I could not run far, that my past would catch up to me at some point,” he tells you. You listen quietly, lying on top of his desk. From the corner of your eye, you see some documents scattered around the floor.

“I’ve tried everything I can to struggle free, but I’m not going to let that man destroy everything I care about.” Levi looks angry again. “I will regain my freedom, even if I have to wait until my father dies, but as it is now, I can’t do anything,” Levi seethes. He clenches his teeth together.

“All this money, all this influence, all these years avoiding my past, and this is all I can do for my mother? This is all I can do for you? Fucking pathetic,” he spits at himself. You lie still, immobile but not cowering under the way he looms over you.

“Then find me afterwards,” you find yourself breathing. “Once you can get out of this situation, come back to me.”

“This is not months or even years we’re talking, it’s decades.”

“I know. I don’t care. I want you. I _chose_ you, as much as you chose me, Levi. I can wait.”

“No.”

Despite that, his eyes flutter to your parted lips. You easily loop an arm over his shoulder and simultaneously, your mouths come together.

It’s a flurry from there. Your hands reach to him, desperate. Clingy. You open your mouth for him even when his tongue is nowhere near your lips, your hands slip under his suit, the fabric just as crisp and smooth under your palms as you remembered.

He groans and pins you down, your shoulder blades dig into the wood underneath you but you don’t care. You kick your heels to the floor with a clanking sound, you shove his suit jacket off his shoulders. You rake your nails down his neck, the heel of your foot pressing into his back in a desperate attempt to get him closer.

You feel his hands make quick work of your shirt, this time considerate and nimble instead of ripping it off like he did the last time you did this under such circumstances. He leaves your shirt open on your shoulders, done with it the moment it fully reveals your body to his eyes.

Instead, he pulls you up with one hand and reaches another underneath you to clasp your bra open in one, fluid motion.

You chuck the bra off and pull Levi in for another needy kiss, your tongue practically plunges into his mouth to rub against his. You can taste the sweetness of his morning tea, the freshness of his toothpaste, the longing of the last few weeks as he kisses you back like it’s the last thing he’ll ever get to do.

His fingers cup your breasts and press them together a few times before he breaks the kiss and lunges down. He buries his face against your chest and all you can do is dive your hand into his perfect, soft hair and toss your head back against the unforgiving hardness of the desk as he kisses all around the mounds, his tongue leaving a trail of saliva as he nibbles from one nipple to the other.

You can feel the pooling heat in your crotch, the deep-rooted need to have Levi inside you communicated with the way your needy hips rub against him. You can feel his erection against you and you only need to roll against him once for him to move a hand up your thigh to the hem of your tight skirt.

He practically peels your skirt up to your waist as his hand reaches underneath to roam your thigh freely, and when he finds the waist of your stockings, he wastes no time rolling them off you.

You don’t have the patience for many forms of foreplay right now. With your skirt somewhat out of the way and your stockings tossed somewhere in the room, you pull Levi’s head up from your chest and kiss him deeply. You pull your own panties off and grab Levi’s belt with utmost authority. He doesn’t protest as you undress his lower body.

He pauses when he realises he doesn’t have a condom, but you’re ahead of him.

“My bag,” you breathe against his heated lips. They’re swollen and glistening with your saliva as he pulls back. He grabs your purse and takes out a condom. He rolls it on and positions himself, just for you to place a gentle hand on his chest to stop him.

You look at him, your eyes searching desperately for some answers. The reassurance you feel like you’ll go crazy without.

“You… With her, have you-?”

“No,” Levi replies steadily. He grabs your hand and kisses the bracelet, his dark eyes conveying a very clear message of dedication and possessiveness.

“What about you? Crashed at Erwin’s place since that one night?” he asks, and he doesn’t do a very good job at concealing his jealousy. Your eyes widen just slightly, but it only takes you a second to realise you should have seen it coming. Erwin is the type to call Levi, for the sake of being fair.

You shake your head. Levi links your fingers and gently manoeuvres you until your hips are on the very edge of the desk. He mounts you where you’re lying, your pining breaths mingle as he fills you.

Instantly, you moan in absolute bliss and clutch his hand with all your strength. Your eyes meet, shining with quiet affection.

This man, he’s yours, he’s everything you’ve been looking for, and after this, you might very well have to let him go.

For good, his eyes say.

For now, your eyes argue, determined and desperately trying to hide the crushing anxiety underneath.

Levi’s gaze softens and he kisses you as he starts moving. You cling to him, your legs pulling him so close he can hardly move properly. It’s as if you’re afraid he’ll pull back and disappear in the blink of an eye if you let him too far.

“I love you,” you breathe. “I love you, I love you, I love you. You stubborn geezer, you tactless moron, you self-sacrificing asshole…”

You don’t register your eyes are tearing up until you feel something hot roll down your cheek. Levi’s hands are steady as he wipes the tear off.

His hips move faster with the intense desire to get closer. To feel your heartbeat against his, your hearts connected in a way they may not ever be able to afterwards. His mouth gets more impatient as he rakes his teeth over your lower lip, his thrusts full of agency.

You cry out when you come abruptly, your nails burying into the flesh on his neck, your other hand still securely in his hold. Your lips collide again with licks and nibbles and heated breaths, you feel him start moving again, and he murmurs something into your mouth, his words so muffled you can’t tell what he’s saying.

“What?“ you whisper and pull back, but Levi’s not about to repeat his love confession. Instead, he looks into your eyes with unwavering dedication as he takes you. He cups your cheek and grits his teeth as he comes closer to his end.

He looks at you like you’re something precious and fragile, a porcelain doll he wants to protect. But he also looks at you like something that’s far away, something just out of his reach, and his eyes fill with unveiled emotions.

Grief, frustration, anger, love so aggressive he doesn’t know where to place it. He lunges forward for what you initially think is a kiss, but then you feel his arm wrap around your shoulder and his face press against your neck.

He comes as you sit up a little and hold him, and only the quietest sniff against your bare skin, which is a little sweaty with the afterglow of sex, tells the true turmoil he’s in.

He stays there, just breathing in the scent of your usual work perfume, lips pressed against your salt-flavoured skin, for the longest time. You let him. Your fingers still linked, you huddle together like two lovers hiding from the world.

The silence shifts from sad to calm and serene, and you slowly relax in his hold. Your breathing and pulse calm down, and you can think again as the silence stretches between you.

“She jumped,” you finally speak up. Your voice is quiet but clear and unwavering.

“What?” Levi murmurs, his words stifled as he doesn’t bother to move.

“My mother. She jumped down from the roof of our apartment building when I was 18,” you confess with an eerily conversational tone. “I always knew she was depressed, and she had the tendency to act impulsively, but I looked the other way for all of my childhood and teenage years. I didn’t see the warning signs because I never really looked at her. She was just a presence in my life that I had to deal with.”

Levi stays silent but he’s obviously listening. You can tell from the way his hand twitches in yours.

“After she did it, I didn’t understand why. I didn’t understand how someone could be up there and fight off the instinct to survive.”

Outside, the office is bustling as usual, with the sounds of clicking heels, ringing phones and shallow conversation. Inside Levi’s office, however, only the sound of your voice cuts through the air.

“After the funeral, I went to the roof. I guess it was out of some kind of morbid curiosity, I wanted to see the last sight my mother saw.” You chuckle.

“It was more terrifying than I thought. The second I peeked over the ledge I felt a surge of existential anxiety and stumbled back. Since then, I’ve been scared of heights. I don’t want to go the way my mother did.”

“Then why did you apply for a job at Ackerman Corp.? You knew we have the highest office building in the whole city,” Levi asks with a quiet mutter.

“It was exactly because of that,” you hum. “What better way to confront my past than giving it the middle finger by picking the highest building in the city to work in?”

Levi finally pulls away. He gives you a thoughtful look and kisses your forehead before dismounting you. He discards the condom and gets properly dressed again. All the while, you look at him without moving from the table.

He’s back to the state where you can’t read what he’s feeling. The heavy brick wall Levi’s been building all his life to keep his psyche safe is back up, and the sight makes you sad. He looks lonely.

“My situation is unavoidable at this point. My father called me this morning to inform me that the wedding will be held this Saturday.”

Saturday. The day after tomorrow.

You look down at your hands. You don’t know what to say. Levi walks to the door and pauses. He gives you one, final look, his eyes oddly soft but still absolute.

“Just give up on me, Frida. You can’t chase me to where I’m going.”

You want to argue but you don’t know how. Is your only option truly to just wait it out? Wait until Mr Dietrich dies of old age and then hope Levi will come to find you again?

“I’ll be back here in an hour and I expect you to have left by then,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

The door makes a heavy sound after him, and for the first time since this all started, you feel truly lost.

When Levi returns to his office an hour later, he finds the silver bracelet on the table, on top of a note.

_I’m returning this. If you ever feel like giving it back, you know where to find me._

_\- F_

As you return to the IntelAcc offices, Erwin takes one, sympathetic look at you and leaves you alone for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It took me a bit longer to write this update, I'm sorry about that. That being said, I'm actually mostly done with the next chapter as well so hopefully, I can post it soon!
> 
> Comments are, as always, so greatly appreciated. They keep me going and I go out of my way to interact with my readers by answering every single one of them :) So, please feel free to drop a line!
> 
> P.S. I listened to Shallow and Dance me to the End of Love on repeat while writing this chapter and also binge-watched Koe no Katachi (the best movie I've seen in a LONG while) three times in the time span of two days and it kinda shows lol. Sorry!
> 
> Until next time!


	16. Union Bobolink

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update?  
> Double update.

The next day starts in a haze. You wake up, brush your teeth, eat a slice of toast and a banana and wash it down with a cup of Union Bobolink coffee. You skip in the shower, come out, dry your hair, get dressed, put on make-up, leave the apartment-

It all feels like a dream. Ackerman Corp., Levi, your engagement, your romance. It feels like something that happened ten years ago, something that you can only remember in blurry memories and distorted images.

You try to think clearly, you spent your evening last night just trying to formulate something, anything. A plan. A reckless, final effort to free Levi from Mr Dietrich, but you came up blank, especially when you try to think of ways to save both Levi and his mother.

You know Erwin has received an invitation to the wedding as it arrived in your work e-mail after you arrived in IntelAcc. You briefly wondered if Levi did it on purpose, but it’s more likely that his assistant didn’t know to send it directly to Erwin.

Armin has sent you a couple of messages asking you how it went with Levi, but you’ve ignored them for now.

By the time you arrive to work, you’re losing hope. You stayed up most of the night trying to come up with an elaborate plan to infiltrate Mr Dietrich’s manor and abduct Kuchel, attempting what Kenny failed at, but you know it will just end with you getting arrested and Erwin being forced to fire you. Even if you manage to find Kuchel, she wouldn’t come with you voluntarily.

You spend the morning working like a robot.

When lunchtime rolls around, you move to the roof of IntelAcc. After you confessed your past to Levi, your mother has been on your mind on the off moments you’re not thinking about Levi, his mother or Mr Dietrich.

You lay down on the rooftop. It’s fully furnished for summer parties with tables, sun loungers and parasols. The pool is covered as the temperatures are slowly approaching autumn readings. The railings are high, and you stay away from the ledge. You’re anxious enough as it is.

You lie on the well-maintained and clean tiles and stare idly at the clear sky. It seems to be one of the last days of warmer weather and you can already sense the nature slowing down and withering around you.

You wonder about your mother and Levi’s. If you could wind back time and save your mother, would you do it no matter the cost?

You probably would. You never really bothered to stop and listen to what she was trying to wordlessly communicate to you. You were too busy with your own life, with friends from school, pointless drawing and singing competitions, thinking about Quan Tran from your biology class, worrying about where to apply after gymnasium…

In all honesty, you get it. The guilt of leaving your mother behind to live your life selfishly. You let yours die and you can’t blame Levi for not wanting to go through the same thing.

“Guilt is one hell of a drug,” you sigh.

“That it is,“ someone comments with a casual hum. You sit up to see that you were so deep in your thoughts you didn’t hear Erwin come up to check on you. He’s calmly sitting on one of the sun loungers, and he lights a cigarette.

“I didn’t know you smoke,” you point out. Erwin smiles bitterly to himself.

“Neither did I. I thought I quit five years ago yet here I am,” he hums but he doesn’t seem too bothered by the fact. You lie back down, quickly relaxing in his presence. Erwin has been exceptionally courteous all week and once you get over the slump that is Levi Ackerman and his wedding, you’ll owe a lifetime of gratitude to Erwin.

“It’s tomorrow isn’t it,” you state.

“Yeah,” Erwin confirms and blows out some smoke.

“Are you going?”

“Someone’s got to see him off at the gates of hell,” Erwin says lightly and sinks into the chair. You can tell this whole situation has had its toll on him too. His nails, usually groomed, are uneven with bite marks and there’s some blood oozing from under his ripped cuticles.

“What am I going to do after tomorrow?” you ask after a moment of silence, not bothering to hide your tiredness.

“I don’t know. That’s up to you, Assistant,” Erwin sighs. “But I can promise you that I’ll try to keep an eye on him and take care of him.”

“Any chance you could try to smuggle him and his mother out of the manor?”

“The chances are pretty narrow,” Erwin hums.

“How narrow?”

“Narrower than your attractively curvaceous waist,” Erwin shoots playfully. That earns him a genuine chuckle.

“Being so good at buttering up people, how did you end up with someone like your ex-wife?” you ask. You’re on a break and Erwin’s your friend so you’re not afraid of being blunt.

“Martha was my high school sweetheart,” Erwin informs you. “But as it turns out, the choices we make as teenagers are often misinformed and not very good.”

That’s painfully true. You wish you had chosen different as a teen and focused on what’s going on around you, not just yourself.

You hum lazily and watch the smoke from Erwin’s cigarette raise to the sky.

“Levi hated her with passion from the moment he met her.”

You’re not surprised.

“He tends to have a pretty good eye for people,” you nod.

“He has to, figuring out people’s motivations is his only way of protecting himself, he has honed good instincts for that.”

“When did he tell you about his past with the cult?”

Erwin chuckles a little as he thinks back to the memory.

“One time during our senior year in college. He got blasted drunk and just blabbered it all out when we were hanging out in my dorm room. The next morning, he threatened to order a hit on me if I ever told a soul.”

“He was probably serious,” you calmly point out.

“Agreed.”

Erwin puts out his cigarette and gets on his feet. He offers you a hand to help you up, which you graciously take.

“After work, let’s go out,” Erwin tells you. “You should get your mind off Levi for tonight.”

You open your mouth to protest, but Erwin gently places his index finger on your lips.

“Boss’ orders,” he says gently and smiles. You faintly smell the cigarette smoke on his hand, and finally, give him a small nod.

-

The venue is smaller than you expected as you step out of Erwin’s car and look around the theatre house. You can see casually clothed people pouring in, most dressed in jeans and shirts rather than suits and skirts. You feel slightly out of place even in your business casual work attire.

Erwin gives you a small smile and walks you inside. He hands the doorman two tickets and takes you to an intimate auditorium-type of hall. Your seats are on the very edge of one of the middle rows.

“A magic show, huh,” you wonder out loud as you sit down on your seat. It’s uncomfortably low, the cushion is a little worn out and the seat is so narrow your elbow touches Erwin’s on the armrest. Erwin, however, looks even more uncomfortable as his long legs dig into the seat in front of him.

Despite his discomfort, he gives you a well-tempered look.

“I always liked magic tricks, ever since I was a little kid. I wanted to become a magician, but my parents talked me out of it,” he explains. You try to imagine Erwin, in a sparkling suit and tall top-hat, standing on a small stage fanning a card deck, and you must say it’s disturbingly easy to picture.

The hall dims and a handsome middle-aged man with a dashing smile takes the stage. The live band plays some suspenseful music as the magician shows a few tricks, such as conjuring doves from thin air and pulling out a rabbit from the hat.

You try to focus the best you can, and when you glance at Erwin, you see a boyishly excited smile on his face. He’s clearly enjoying the show. You smile to yourself at the sight and try to keep up with the magician.

He displays some card tricks with volunteers from the audience, and when you start getting a little bored, you start theorising on how he does them. The bunny was obviously hidden somewhere under the table, the woman he sawed in half was actually stuffed in just one of the boxes, the card tricks are just sleight of hand and the volunteers are probably paid assistants anyway.

You keep your mild boredom to yourself, though, and avoid thinking about tomorrow. Levi’s wedding and the day he’ll return to Mr Dietrich’s manor and probably re-join the cult. He’ll marry his brainwashed ditz of a fiancée and by the time he can get out again, he’ll probably have forgotten all about you.

You try to ignore the strangling feeling in your throat and turn your attention back to the magic show, but it’s hard.

When the magician asks for a volunteer for a trick revolving around balls and cups, Erwin has grabbed your arm and hoisted it up in your stead before you can protest, and the spotlight soon finds its way to you.

“Miss in a black skirt!” the magician calls. “Lovely, lovely, come on to the stage!”

Your eyes widen and you give Erwin an enraged look. He’s looking very amused.

“Forget about Levi, _I’ll_ order that hit on you,” you hiss at him, but the magician’s assistant has already come to you. She tugs you on your feet and helps you on the stage.

You sigh deeply but decide against making a public spectacle. You sit down on the cheap folding chair next to the table where the magician has his cups.

He gives you a smile and turns to the audience.

“Alright. What’s your name, Miss?”

“Frida,” you reply curtly. The magician nods and holds out a small, sponge ball in front of your eyes.

“Alright, Frida. Thank you for volunteering. What I’m going to do is I’m going to put this ball under one of these cups in your plain sight. After that, you can shuffle the cups yourself as you wish and then, try to point out which cup the ball is under,” he instructs you. You nod.

He shows you the ball and places it under the cup to your right. He then pulls his hands back and gives you an encouraging look. You place your hand on the cup on the right and shuffle the two others with the other. Just to make sure the magician doesn’t do anything sneaky like try to snatch the ball out from under it when you’re not looking.

You leave the cup on the right be and when you’re done shuffling the others, you point at the cup on the right.

“Oh, you’re one of _those_ people,” the magician observes out loud, “seems like Frida here has some slight trust issues,” he quips, to some mild laughter from the audience.

“Trust me, pal, so would you if you were me,” you reply blandly, and your response garners more laughter than the initial quip. You see Erwin give you two thumbs up with a wide grin, clearly thoroughly enjoying this.

“Well then, why don’t you lift the cup,” the magician urges you, still keeping his hands back. You raise an eyebrow. You fully expected him to lift the cup himself and slip the ball out as he does it.

You yank the cup up, and to your astonishment, it’s empty. So are the two others.

“Feel free to check the table as well. You know you want to, with your trust issues and all,” the magician offers generously, and you frown and do as he says. There’s nothing wrong with the table.

The audience applauds, and you leave the stage deep in thought. It bugs you. Where did the ball disappear?

Erwin nudges you teasingly as you sit down, but you ignore him. The magician invites someone else on stage and does another trick, a modified one where instead, a ball appears under every cup.

There has to be a sleight of hand somewhere. Somewhere between the volunteer shuffling the cups and lifting them up, there has to be something that allows him to meddle with the balls underneath.

You watch him repeat the trick one last time with another volunteer. You frown unhappily for the rest of the show and clap reluctantly when the magician finally stops and leaves the stage.

You don’t get it. You growl, upset about the fact that the magician got you. You have no idea how he made that ball disappear even as you walk out of the venue.

Wait.

Unless…

A look of understanding spreads on your face and as it does, you suddenly realise something else. What’s been bugging you so much since your discussion with Kenny.

The puzzle piece locks in place, and you can’t stop the gasp that escapes you.

You pause in the middle of the yard where you and Erwin were on your way to his parked limousine. You hurry to take out your phone. You access your work e-mail and with a bit of browsing, you find the wedding invitation. If you recall correctly, it came with a seat map.

You open the file where the seats are mapped out. You see Levi’s name in one table, with his fiancée, Marlene, her parents and Mr Dietrich. Erwin’s situated in one of the corners with Kenny Ackerman and a collection of names you don’t recognise. You look over the map, and as you do, your eyes widen.

You look up and see Erwin giving you a peculiar look. You ignore his curious eyes, having noticed someone behind him further away in the large, mostly empty parking lot. The magician, walking to his rather ordinary-looking family estate car. He must have been eager to get home, changing out of his work clothes this fast. He looks very non-magical and mundane in his jeans and leather jacket.

Despite the fact he looks to be in a hurry, you practically leap to him, leaving behind a very confused-looking Erwin.

“Hey!” you call out, and he stills where he’s just about to hop in his car. You run across the parking lot and stop in front of him, a little out of breath.

“The volunteer,” the magician recalls, taken aback and a little wary. “What can I do for you?”

“The ball was never there, to begin with,” you blurt out. He raises his eyebrows.

“Excuse me?”

“That trick you had me assist you with. With the disappearing ball. That’s how you did it. The ball was never under the cup in the first place, you just had me assume you put it there.”

The magician pauses, clearly weirded out and not sure if he wants to reveal his trick to you, but the earnest, hopeless look on your face convinces him to entrust you with his secret. Or, maybe he concluded you’re a nutcase he wants to get rid of without angering too much. Probably the latter.

“Yeah. The trick is based on the fact that most people wouldn’t think they’re being deceived right from the beginning. It relies on using a bluff so ballsy most people wouldn’t even entertain the idea of the magician having the nerve. Showing the ball and straight-up lying it’s been placed under the cup when there was never any intention of putting it there, to begin with.”

A wide, creepy smile spreads on your features. So, you were right. That’s it!

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” you exclaim and shake his hand before dashing off. He looks after you with a very perplexed expression. Weirder and weirder people coming to his show every day. As if that one, rich-looking blond who comes to every show and tries to volunteer for everything wasn’t enough.

You run back to the limousine where Erwin’s waiting and as you do, you put it all together.

It’s just as the magician says. It’s a bluff so grand that no one, not even Levi, dared to think Mr Dietrich would have the nerve.

Kuchel’s not coming to the wedding. Kenny never saw her when he went to abduct her. Levi hasn’t seen her in ten years.

No one’s actually seen Kuchel Dietrich.

She's gone.

Just like the ball, she was never there, to begin with.

As you reach Erwin, now with the widest of smiles, the spark back in your eyes, he blinks and opens the limousine door for you.

“I know that look. You have an idea,” he observes.

You jump in the car, a plan formulating in your mind. As the driver takes you back towards your apartment, you turn to Erwin.

“I’m sorry, Erwin, I’m going to need your help again.”

“Oh?” Erwin leans in, clearly interested. “And what kind of help is that?”

“Take me as your plus one tomorrow.”

“Alright, Ms Reader, but why?”

You give him a raised eyebrow.

“Isn’t that obvious? I have a wedding to ruin.”

Erwin sighs wistfully and looks out of the window. For a moment, he looks blue, but that expression is soon wiped out in favour of a sudden wave of giddiness. He looks exhilarated.

“I’m so jealous,” he complains playfully. “Why didn’t Martha chase me like this?”

He turns back to you with the widest, most amused smirk.

“Alright then. I won’t ask what you’re about to do to convince my friend not to enter an oppressive cult. It would ruin the surprise. But know that I’ll have my phone’s camera ready to roll and you had better give me one hell of a show.”

That, you can promise easily.

When you arrive back at your apartment, the thick envelope in your mailbox sends your heart racing. You leap inside your home, haphazardly kick your shoes off and sit on the couch.

You practically rip the envelope open with shaking hands and check the marriage certificate inside. A brief pause as you take in what you’re seeing. Then, you can’t help the loud gasp.

“Son of a bitch! Dietrich, you sly little snake!” you exclaim incredulously, but your disbelief soon turns to full-fledged celebration. You lay down on the couch and squeal.

“I caught him! I finally caught him!” you rejoice with a loud laugh and clutch the document to your chest.

With this, you’ve got Sigmund Dietrich sacked. All you need is to crash Levi’s wedding and hit him in his stubborn, self-sacrificing head with everything you’ve discovered.

But there’s a way out. You found it. You just hope you’re not too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, did you think I was just going to give you one twist and leave it at that? You were wrong! ^^  
> I must say, I had a lot of fun pretending like I had put all the cards on the table when I planned to sucker punch you with another plot twist just as you're recovering from the first one haha :D
> 
> But yay, next chapter will be the climax and yes, Reader is gonna be that thot who arrives to her ex man's wedding just to start some shit lol
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts! Did you see the twist coming? Were you surprised? Disappointed? Are you hyped for the wedding showdown? :) Comments mean a lot to me, especially after chapters like these where I reveal a major plot point that I'm nervous about :D
> 
> Until next time!


	17. Long Island Iced Tea

You straighten the hem of your dress and stop to give the venue a very suspicious look. You thank you luck that the wedding doesn’t take place in Mr Dietrich’s manor.

Instead, they’ve rented out a relatively large mansion just outside the city. You note that most of the people walking inside are wearing the diamond-shaped symbol somewhere on their bodies, the same one that was on the bracelet Mr Dietrich tried to give you. Women have it on a piece of jewellery, men seem to have a pin on their tie or collar instead.

The mansion looks old, with rough, brownstone walls and a worn-out tile walkway leading to the main entrance. You’re dressed in all black with a knee-length dress, a pair of heels on your feet and a purse clutched tight against your chest. Inside the purse is the most vital piece of information you need to show Levi; proof that Mr Dietrich is scamming him.

Your hand is holding onto Erwin’s arm as you approach the building through the small garden in the front yard. Erwin looks as dapper as always, with a black suit and red tie.

You take a deep breath. You couldn’t sleep much last night. You tried to call and text Levi the second you received the documents, but as you anticipated, he’s blocked you virtually everywhere.

It leaves you no choice but to crash his wedding.

As you approach the door, the security guard frowns and stops you and Erwin.

“Just a second,” he grunts and takes out his cellphone. He seems to be checking something, and he looks back and forth between something on his phone and your face. He then nods to himself.

“Sorry, but I have orders not to let you in,” he tells you. You gape at him for a moment but quickly regain your wits.

“I have been Mr Ackerman’s assistant for a long time and I’m here as a friend of his as well as the date of Mr Smith,” you tell him coolly. He shakes his head.

“I don’t care. Mr Ackerman has told us to keep you out.”

You growl a little at the knowledge that Levi is the one who’s keeping you out. Talk about resisting rescue with all he’s got. But you decide against making a scene, just to make sure the security level doesn’t rise and the guard doesn’t feel like it’s necessary to keep a closer eye on your movements.

You steer Erwin away from the door, back towards his car that’s parked in the small gravel parking lot next to the mansion.

“I need a new plan. How long until the ceremony starts?”

Erwin checks his clock.

“Ten minutes.”

“Why did you have to take so long to pick me up?” you complain half-seriously and look at the building. The front door is the only way in you see.

“Now, now, I had to practice the magic show I’m going to perform at the afterparty-” Erwin starts playfully. You give him a half-hearted glare.

“Why do you need to practice for a magic show when you know I’m going to stop the wedding?” you ask with an updrawn eyebrow. Erwin gives you a wide grin.

“Well, in case you can’t stop it after all but the attempt leaves the guests’ mood ruined,” he suggests innocently. “Or I need to cheer you up since you’re heartbroken.”

You roll your eyes, but there’s a small upward tug at the corners of your mouth. His relaxed attitude somehow calms you down a bit as well.

“You’re a weirdo, did you know that?” you ask with a chuckle. Erwin grows serious for a moment, and he grasps your hand in his.

“I know. And I know what the answer will be but I’m just not the kind of guy who leaves any path unexplored so I’ll just go ahead and say it.”

You look at your hand in his, and you know what’s about to commerce.

“I could make you happy, you know,” he says gently, “with much less hassle and cults involved. I’m not saying you shouldn’t stop this wedding, I’m just saying that afterwards, if you’re not sure you want to get back together with Levi and ever feel like you want to be with someone, then, you know,” he gives you a small smile.

You chuckle gently.

“Thank you, Erwin. I know I’ll owe you a lot once this is all over. But I can’t reciprocate those feelings, I’m sorry.”

Erwin smiles knowingly.

“I know. This is just to silence that small part of my brain that will otherwise keep me up at night three years from now with a seed of doubt, asking ‘what if’.”

He releases your hand and instead clasps his on your shoulder in a friendly manner.

“Alright. Let’s get you inside that venue. What do you need?”

You think it over and nod to yourself. The best option is to try to find an unguarded way in.

“Go inside and stall the ceremony as much as you can. Chances are you can’t see Levi and even if you can, he isn’t going to agree to see me. So just do whatever it takes to draw out the mingling part before the ceremony starts. Okay?”

Erwin grins.

“Whatever it takes? You got it,” he says with an expression that promises nothing good. He turns and walks back to the door without you, and soon disappears inside.

You take a breath. You just have to trust Erwin is resourceful enough to stop things while you think of another way in.

You keep your distance to the manor and instead walk around. The mansion is luckily mostly surrounded by a thick forest, the woods giving you a decent amount of cover as you move about.

Your heels get muddy and the hem of your dress gets stuck in branches and twigs, but you don’t care as you hastily move through.

You keep an eye on the building but to your disappointment, the windows are closed, and the back door is also manned with a few security guards who are sure to turn you away should you approach them.

You circle around the mansion a few times, using the trees as cover, but can’t find a window or door that’s open.

You glance at your clock and realise the ceremony is scheduled to have started a couple of minutes ago. This puts a new spike of adrenaline into your system, and you start frantically looking around. You circle around the back of the building and this time you don’t just observe the ground level, you look for any open route in, even above the first floor.

Eventually, you find one, but it’s not at all what you wanted.

You look at the skylight that’s cracked open just slightly on the roof. It’s the only open window in the whole building.

There’s no ladder or fire escape that could take you to the roof, your only route up being a thick, old-looking oak tree growing tall and strong next to the building.

You haven’t climbed a tree since you were a little girl.

Of course, the only way in just has to be high up.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you mutter, but you have no time to pause and hesitate. Maybe Levi’s already walking down the aisle, and the mental image makes you stifle the part of you that’s scared of climbing that high up.

Making sure no guards are around, you run out of the forest. You hear a ripping sound as your dress gets caught in the branch of a pine tree, but you pay it no mind.

You pause in front of the tree and look up. It’s tall. The roof is three storeys up. You take a deep breath and hold your purse with your mouth as you grab the nearest branch and start climbing.

Your heels don’t make it easy, and you slip a few times as you ascend the tree. You can only thank your luck that all the branches are sturdy enough to support your weight. You deliberately keep your mind focused and try to forget the fact that you’re high up. Luckily, your years working in a skyscraper have made you more tolerant of heights so you can manage this much.

You dive through the thick branches and ignore the few twigs and leaves that get stuck in your recently styled hair as a result.

Finally, a few minutes later, you haul yourself on the roof. You decide against trying to stand up on the steep surface and instead crawl up on all fours, ignoring the way your hands and knees get smudged with soot and dirt in the process.

As you approach the open window, you can hear the noises from inside.

“Moving on, ladies and gentlemen, to 2006. It was the second year Levi and I knew each other. The first courses of our semester were Business in a Global Environment, Advanced Employee Law and Profit Margins for Beginners. Professor Fischer, whose credentials I listed previously, taught two of those courses. I still remember the first day of school with Levi, it was approximately 21 degrees Celsius, with humidity that was just slightly on the uncomfortable side. Levi had a headache because he had been drinking the night before. He drank one shot of Bourbon Whiskey on the rocks, a glass of Guinness Beer, a Long Island Iced Tea, which, for those who don’t know, consists of rum, a dash of cola, some silver tequila…”

You peek inside to see Erwin, standing on a small stage in the ceremony hall, speaking into a microphone to a fidgety audience that’s obviously dying to move on but too polite to cut in. His face is dead serious and not a thing gives away that he’s deliberately messing with the people present.

You grin a bit at the sight, but soon start worrying about how you can get in.

The skylight is above the ceremony hall, where most people are already seated. You see Mr Dietrich sitting in one of the seats with his mouth pulled to an unsatisfied line.

A person who looks like the priest is standing next to the stage while fiddling the hem of his cassock. He’s obviously also wondering how to cut in and get Erwin off the stage.

The drop is about six meters as the ceremony hall is situated on the third floor. You’re just above the stage.

The narrow walkway from the stage leads to a heavy wooden door that’s firmly closed.

A six-meter fall. You can deal with that. Your biggest worry is how you can land well on your heels without losing your balance and twisting an ankle. But then again, you’ve worked in heels for years. You think you have a good balance.

You keep holding your purse in your mouth and turn your legs towards the window. You’re going to have to squeeze a little to fit, but the crack looks wide enough.

You clench your eyes shut and take a breath. Here goes.

Below, you can hear some murmuring and gasping. Some people must have noticed you. You squeeze through the crack feet first, your hands clutching the wooden frame of the window. Hauling your whole body in, you inch lower and lower until you’re hanging completely inside, your feet now a few meters from the ground.

You hear whispering. You hear Mr Dietrich gasping your name.

Then, you hear a sound from below.

“Let go, I’ll catch you.”

You recognise it as Erwin and immediately do as you’re told. You fall with a small squeak and feel a couple of strong arms catch you and place you down on the stage.

“Thanks,“ you breathe as you take the purse in your hand and look up to see Erwin with an amused glint in his eyes.

“Your panties were visible to the whole hall, I couldn’t just let you embarrass yourself like that,” he explains. You grin and nudge at him playfully before turning your eyes to the door.

Mr Dietrich is already walking towards the exit. You can’t let that slide. You ignore the murmurs and comments and bolt towards the door. You unceremoniously shove Mr Dietrich out of the way to the shock of everyone in the room.

You yank the door open and run out to the decorated stairway. Outside, you can see a woman you don’t recognise. She’s wearing a dress made of beautiful white lace and she’s linked arms with an older man.

It must be Marlene, waiting to walk down the aisle with her father.

You ignore the way she gapes at you and pay no mind to her father asking you what’s going on.

Levi must be somewhere around here. There are two doors near the entrance to the main hall, and you pick one at random.

You run into what looks like it used to be one of the many bedrooms in this mansion but was later renovated into a small lounge.

There’s a full-sized mirror, a vanity, a couch and a coffee table. Someone’s sitting on the couch, hunched with his elbows on his knees and his chin leaning into his joined hands. At the sound of the door opening and closing, he snaps his head up.

You recognise the suit, the tidy hair and the silhouette instantly, and relief floods through you. You quickly lock the door after yourself and turn your focus to the other door across the room. Without a doubt, Mr Dietrich will try to come after you.

You hurry to the other door and lock it as well. All the while, Levi gapes at you for a moment, taking in your muddy and ripped dress, hair full of twigs and leaves, your smudged make-up and overall dishevelled demeanour. He gets up and opens his mouth to bark at you just as you finish locking the final door.

“What the fuck do you think you’re-”

“Your father is scamming you,” you cut in and turn to face him. Your small purse clutched in your hands, you walk to the couch and shove him to sit back down.

“Sit down and let me explain. Your father will barge here sooner or later, but I’ll try to tell you the gist of things before then.”

Levi frowns, but your messed-up appearance and the determined look on your face must have convinced that you have _something_ urgent to say.

He leans back on the couch, crosses his arms and legs, and gives you an expectant look.

“You look like shit,” he can’t help but sass you out. You roll your eyes.

“Sure, give me shit for going through hell to save you from this oppressive wedding. Long story short: your mother is, and never was, involved with any of this. I don’t know where she is, but she’s not involved.”

“What do you mean?” Levi asks snappily. You take out the documents from your purse.

“Your mother’s maiden name was Ackerman, right?”

“So?”

You sigh, the last of your doubt melting away. You hand Mr Dietrich’s marriage certificate to Levi.

“Then why did you father divorce your mother just to get re-married to someone called _Kuchel Zimmermann_ later?”

Levi looks over the marriage certificate, and his frown turns to pure confusion.

“Kuchel is not a common name,” Levi points out. You nod.

“I know. If you want my best guess, this person is someone much younger than Mr Dietrich who grew up in the cult. Naming your child after the wife of your cult leader doesn’t seem like a far-fetched thing to do.”

Levi sighs when he realises that you’re right.

“Most born girls have Kuchel as their middle or third name, most born boys have Sigmund,” he enlightens you.

“You can pick and use whichever of your names you want without having to apply for a name change. My guess is, one of the girls was discovered to have cancer, Mr Dietrich seized the opportunity to use that in order to get you back. He married the girl, came up with the whole story of your mother being sick and struck a deal with you.”

“But he divorced my mother way earlier,” Levi points out.

“Who knows. Maybe she finally left him, maybe he divorced her for some bullshit reason. I don’t know where your mother is, but she’s not involved with this,” you tell him straightforwardly. You guess she’s still somewhere in the cult, maybe demoted.

One thing is for sure. Levi’s mother is not the one with cancer.

If she left, you’d like to think she would have reached out to Levi. Unless Mr Dietrich intimidated her into silence to make sure Levi wouldn’t know he has no reason to stay connected to the cult anymore.

Then again… You suddenly realise something.

“I don’t think she’s with the cult anymore,” you tell him. He gives you a frown.

“Why?”

“Because why otherwise would Mr Dietrich have kept you out of the cult until you got married and the binding contract between you became enforceable? He told you to live at home and only move back to the cult after the marriage because if you moved in before the contract became enforceable, you would soon have discovered your mother is not there and left before the marriage. If you discovered it after you already married your fiancée, you would still be obligated to stay because the contract dictating that became enforceable.”

Levi thinks back to the contract.

“Now that you mention it, the contract didn’t use any specifics to make sure it was without a doubt my mother receiving the treatment. It stated the treatment would be given to _‘his wife Kuchel Dietrich’_ and it didn’t occur to me at the time to contest the specifics.”

“You’re a businessman, how did it not occur to you to check the contracts thoroughly?” you scold him. He sighs deeply and gets on his feet.

“Stress and anxiety do a lot of things to people,” he tells you, and for a moment he looks tired again. He chucks the marriage certificate on the coffee table and sighs deeply. Then, he starts chuckling. An exhausted, stressed and absolutely joyless laughter.

“I never thought my father would go this far,” he confesses. “Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s a rotten piece of shit.”

He gives you a wary look.

“And you. I pushed you away so many times, yet you take that as an invitation to dig up dirt on my old man, then go through hell judging from the way you look to crash my wedding,” he tells you, and he looks equal parts impressed and bothered.

You walk up to him, done with his shit, and grab his tie. You reel him in and stare deep into his eyes.

“Listen here, you old man. This has not been a nice experience and I just went through a whole lot of trouble to free you from your father. I deserve none of your sass right now. You’re welcome.”

Levi scoffs and his attitude melts into a somewhat vulnerable smile.

“I know,” he says quietly. He looks over your messy face and reaches a hand to grasp your chin. Suddenly, his eyes are shining with unveiled affection and gratitude. His expression is that of absolute relief as he catches your waist and pulls you in. Easily falling into his embrace, you relax against him.

“Fucking hell,” he murmurs against your hair. “Crashing in here to casually single-handedly stop my father, just as I concluded no one could go against him.”

He chuckles and holds you tighter.

“You absolute lunatic, I love you so fucking much.”

A smile creeps to your face and you lean back to face him and cup his cheeks in your hands.

“Call off this wedding,” you tell him steadily.

“Are you crazy?” Levi snorts. “This wedding was over the second I saw that marriage certificate.”

Unceremoniously, he grabs your wrist and starts pulling you to the door. He opens the door to the stairway. His fiancée is nowhere to be seen and the door to the ceremony hall is wide open. Inside, a commotion of sorts can be heard.

Levi moves his hand from your wrist to take your hand properly as you peek inside.

What you witness is the most absurd thing you’ve ever seen.

Kenny Ackerman and Erwin have teamed up. Kenny is forcefully holding Mr Dietrich’s arms behind his back to keep him from the door, and Erwin is standing between Mr Dietrich and the door with his arms wide open, ready to catch him should Mr Dietrich struggle free from Kenny’s hold.

Levi’s fiancée, her father, the priest and a collection of people are standing around them, trying to talk Kenny into letting Mr Dietrich go.

The security is still downstairs by the looks of things, having been instructed to guard the doors and not the guests.

The whole commotion pauses when the two of you walk in, and a gasp goes through the crowd when they see your joined hands.

“You can let him go now,” Levi tells Kenny. Kenny, smiling widely, finally releases Mr Dietrich and stands back.

“As you wish. This fellow here,” he points at Erwin, “just asked me to help him stall things until the doll manages to do what she came here to do. And I’m never saying no to an opportunity to ruffle good old Sigmund up.”

You give Erwin a small, raised eyebrow. He shrugs with a harmless smile.

That beautiful bastard. You really do owe him.

Your eyes slide to Levi’s fiancée, who looks confused and a little lost. Her eyes are glued to your joined hands, and you suddenly feel a bit guilty. She’s done nothing wrong, her only sin was to be born in a cult and getting brainwashed.

“This wedding is off,” Levi tells the spectators. Immediately, Mr Dietrich grows paler. The crowd starts murmuring amongst each other.

“What do you mean, off, we had a deal that-”

“Your deal doesn’t mean shit,” Levi tells him, voice perfectly calm and even. “She caught onto what’s going on. It’s over.”

“ _’What’s going on?’_ I have no idea what you’re implying but I assure you you’re mistaken-”

“Going through your marital history sure was a journey of twists and turns,” you cut in harmlessly. Immediately, Mr Dietrich’s sunken eyes turn wide.

“I don’t know who the poor woman going through cancer treatments is, but she isn’t Levi’s mother. You sure have a lot of nerve,” you tell him mercilessly.

Kenny blinks at the two of you.

“You- you mean Kuchel is not the one who’s going through treatments?” he asks, taken aback.

“Mr and Mrs Dietrich divorced and not long after, Mr Dietrich married another woman who happens to bear the same first name. My educated guess is this happened _after_ she got the cancer diagnosis.”

In a second, Kenny has marched to Mr Dietrich and grabbed the front of his shirt.

“Where’s Kuchel?” he demands fiercely. “Where has she been this whole time you’ve been scheming?”

“Who knows,” Mr Dietrich replies hollowly. Kenny grits his teeth and shoves Mr Dietrich back.

“You disgusting piece of shit,” Kenny hisses. Mr Dietrich’s eyes are defiant as he turns to you and Levi. He looks like a different person. Cold, ruthless, annoyed, as he points his bony finger at you.

“You haven’t heard the last of me, girl. I will get you for this.”

“Bring it on. I sacked you once, I can do it again,” you reply, not intimidated at all.

Levi gives his father a cold once-over.

“I’ll get to you later. For now, I’m out of here,” he announces. That makes his fiancée flinch and take a step forward.

“But…”

She doesn’t know how to continue. It’s obvious she’s very perplexed, and she looks like she might burst in tears any second.

You gently pry your hand away from Levi’s hold and walk up to her. You give her a sympathetic smile.

“Marlene was it?” you try. She nods and tries to give you a glare, but hatred is clearly not in her DNA, because instead, she looks lost and desperately sad.

“I’m sorry you got involved in all this. You must have deciphered he never really wanted to marry you, and it must have been hard on you. Trust me, you’re dodging a huge bullet. He’s a sharp-tongued neat-freak who works too much, complains even more and rarely extends kindness towards anyone who he doesn’t feel deserves it. Your marriage would have been miserable.”

She says nothing, and she doesn’t look completely convinced. You’re not here to undo her indoctrination or to have a heart-to-heart, so you leave things at that.

Levi gives you an unimpressed eyebrow raise as you walk back to him, not completely on board with you bashing his character like that. Then, he grabs your wrist and starts walking you to the door.

“You can keep the engagement ring,” he calls to Marlene over his back. “I suggest you sell it and use the money to get the hell away from the cult.”

With that, he pulls you out of the room and down the stairs. The ceremony hall is left quiet behind you, and just as you’re about to get out of earshot, you hear Erwin speak up.

“So… To brighten the mood, would anyone care for a few magic tricks?”

-

The car ride is oddly quiet as you make your way back. You don’t initiate any small-talk and neither does he. There’s no reason to, you’ve got all the time in the world to talk about things afterwards. Instead, you’re both savouring the tense promise of intimacy.

As you walk inside Levi’s apartment, the first thing you see is an abundance of moving equipment. Levi’s belongings are neatly packed in cardboard boxes and his suits are hanging from a movable rack, packed in see-through plastic covers.

He is all set to move. He really intended to go through with this madness.

When walking past the large closet with mirror doors, you pause to look at yourself in all your glory. Your messed-up hair with leaves poking out, your muddy high heels, your ripped and splotched dress, your blotched make-up, most of which got smeared when you were climbing the tree.

You look way out of place and you wonder if you should go tidy up before suggesting anything with Levi.

But, to your surprise, Levi doesn’t seem to be thinking along the same lines. He takes off his shoes and walks behind you. His arms wrap around your waist and his mouth presses against your shoulder. You watch, eyes lidding and a smile playing on your lips, as Levi’s hands roam over your stomach.

His mouth moves from your shoulder to your ear and his eyes are sharp and purposeful as you look into each other’s eyes through the mirror.

“The dress is ruined,” you tell him playfully. “Why don’t you take it off me?“

Levi understands the implication; his expression instantly turns stormier and he moves both hands over your chest to the low neck of your dress. Unceremoniously, he rips it open, revealing your bra.

You suck in a sharp breath and instinctively arch your back a little. You loop an arm behind you, around Levi’s neck, and press your behind against him as he slips the straps of your bra down, his hand pushing in to cup both of your breasts.

You moan and playfully roll your hips against him. You can feel him slowly getting hard against your butt, his hands holding your breasts and his mouth kissing a line from the nape of your neck to your ear, then down again to your jaw.

You rub your legs together, squirming when you feel your arousal pooling against the fabric of your underwear. Levi’s fingers toy with your nipples until they’re hard in his hold, and he then snaps the bra open with one hand and throws it off somewhere in the middle of moving boxes.

You watch your naked chest, the ripped remains of your dress hanging off your shoulders.

His hand grasps your throat gently. You extend your neck, giving him all the space he could need for the possessive gesture. His other hand moves down. Grasping the hem of your dress, he pulls it up until he can slip a hand underneath.

The sight is sexy. Your messed-up hair, lidded eyes, his hand slipping right into your panties to rub your bare crotch, the other gently grasping your neck. A reminder that you’re his.

His dark eyes watch your every reaction through the mirror as two of his fingers push into your slick hole, curling up just a little to rub against your walls.

You let out a submissive whimper, butt rubbing wantonly against the tenting front of his pants. His thumb closes over your clit, circling over it with light, conversational touches as he starts fingering you.

You have to place one hand against the mirror to stabilise yourself, the other slipping into Levi’s perfect hair to mess it up. You don’t want to be the only one who’s unruly.

This stubborn, perfect man in his crispy suit, hands possessively splayed all over your body when he’s the one who ran away and tried to wed another.

Despite that, you want to give him all of you. You want him to carry you to bed and fuck you senseless until your mind is broken and blank and you’re left with nothing but his name on your lips.

You curse under your breath and bite your lip as Levi’s hand gents more demanding. His thin fingers reach deeper, his thumb presses down against your clit a bit more. All the while, his eyes never leave yours, his mouth never pauses on the crook of your neck.

Watching yourself get lost in his touches, you feel the edge coming closer. Your breath hastens, your tongue comes out to quickly wet your lips, your eyes close on their own and you come with a quiet whimper, Levi’s fingers buried deep inside you.

Your chest heaving, you take a moment to come down but when you do, you turn around and collide your mouths.

You nip at his lips, allow his tongue to steal your breath, and all the while your hands agilely strip him of his clothes. You slip his perfect suit jacket onto the floor, open his shirt and discard it, practically yank his pants off and when he’s finally completely bare, you place a hand over his groin.

You dare only stroke him a few times in fear of making him climax too early, and then pull your hands back. You kick your muddy heels off and start pulling him into the apartment.

Only, he’s not happy to just follow. He pushes you against walls, kisses you, gropes you, and you giggle like a teenager at his advances. Just outside the bedroom, after Levi is done ravishing your mouth for the nth time, you pull back and press your foreheads together in a short, romantic gesture.

“I walk through that door, I’m not going to leave,” you tell him playfully. He gives you a smile so relieved and genuine that you can’t keep yourself from hugging him tightly.

“Good,” he murmurs into your hair. You pull back, you kiss again, and before you can protest, he’s swept you off your feet. He carries you the few steps to his bedroom and drops you on his bed.

You look over his toned, naked body and start working on getting your dress off you while he fetches a condom. Manoeuvring the ripped parts of your dress off you at least somewhat gracefully turns out to be a challenge, but after some difficulty you manage to chuck the ripped piece of fabric on the floor.

Levi mounts the bed and pins you down. His eyes bore into yours and you cup his cheek gently as he lines up his rubbered length and pushes inside.

You link your fingers with Levi’s, and your expression instantly turns sour when you find the engagement ring still there. In all that chaos and commotion, it occurred to neither of you to take it off.

Taken over by a surge of possessiveness, you practically rip the ring off, so hard you can hear his knuckles make a small pop.

You hurl the ring off somewhere into the room without even bothering to see where it landed, a fact that seems to amuse Levi because he chuckles a little, leans down and kisses you deeply.

His hips start snapping down, you drape your legs around his back, your heels pressing him closer as he buries his girth into you. Your mouths chase each other in between pants and moans. You squeeze his hand, he squeezes yours in return. Your arm links around his neck to keep him close and he cups your jaw to look deep into your eyes.

You feel him hastening his pace, ramming into your slick, heated body, your flesh a little tender from his fingers rubbing you to a climax earlier.

You don’t speak, there’s no need to. Only sounds of pleasure and delight leave your lips as he drills you down. You raise your hips to meet his midway, your bodies are pressed so close you can feel his skin get a little sweaty against yours.

He keeps his eyes attentive on your face, as if afraid you’ll disappear if he turns his gaze away.

He balances himself on one forearm, hand still holding onto yours, and reaches his other hand down to gently start massaging your clit in rhythm with his hard thrusts. You gasp and dig your fingernails into his neck as he steadily fucks you into oblivion, hands touching, eyes watching, mouth claiming, whilst all you can do is let go and let him have you.

You’re his and he’s yours, nothing will come between you anymore, and it’s with that thought that you come a second time, tightening around Levi’s prick.

He’s not far behind. His heated lips nibble yours, his breathing gets heavier and you feel a shudder go through his whole body each time he snaps his hips down. You clench yourself around him, and it’s just the extra friction he needs to come with a strained moan, mouth feverishly moving against yours.

You both pause, your lips stilled against one another mid-kiss. Then, he pulls out of you and flops down on his back next to you.

You turn over to your side and drape a lazy arm around his waist. Your cheek places on his chest. He replies by stroking his hand through your hair once. You know you’ll have to get up and wash at some point, but you can’t be bothered right now.

The stress of the last few weeks leaves you with one, cathartic breath, and you prop your head up to meet his thoughtful eyes. The extra tension is gone and you’re both languid and happy. That doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to say, though.

“I never want to go through something like that again,” you tell him solemnly. “From now on, if you face problems, I want you to tell me. We can solve things together. Not to mention being shut out by someone you love hurts.”

Levi nods and moves his hand from your hair to your cheek with a thoughtful, stoic expression. Your stern face shifts into a playful pout.

“I know it wasn’t pleasant for you, either, I just wish you would have told me what’s going on from the start.”

“I was afraid.”

The confession makes you blink. Levi’s suddenly not meeting your eyes and there’s an awkward frown on his face. As if he doesn’t himself know how to approach his feelings.

“First, I was afraid I would scare you away if I told you everything from the very start. And then I was afraid you’d get sucked into the cult, or that you’d try to find a way to get me away from my father on your own.”

“I did do that,” you can’t help but point out dryly. Levi snorts and turns his unreadable eyes to meet yours.

“Yeah. If I’d known you’re capable of single-handedly tearing my father down just because you don’t want to break up with me, I would have teamed up with you from the start.”

“What can I say, I’m a determined girl,” you shrug. You snuggle back against him and press a kiss on his naked chest.

“I missed you.”

As a response, you feel a familiar, soft hand pat your head.

At long last, the worst is over. There’s still going to be an aftermath to deal with, but that’s not something you’re willing to think about tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY I got around to writing the climax of this fic. I'm trying to get rid of the habit of apologising for having things going on in my life that keep me from writing since this is a hobby and I know I'm allowed to take my time, but I still always feel bad knowing people are waiting for an update that I'm not planning on writing in a little while :/
> 
> That being said, we had a showdown that had it all. Parkouring Reader, Shitposter Erwin being a shitposter as always, some smut, some tenderness and most of all, the promise of a better tomorrow. With this, there's only the aftermath remaining (Phase 4). There will be two chapters that close the main story plus an epilogue. 
> 
> I know a lot of people have asked for a side story where our poor Erwin gets the girl. I'm thinking of delivering on that front, I'm just going to ask a question: would you prefer an "alternate timeline" one-shot where our Frida Reader gets together with Erwin instead, or for me to create a new reader character who gets together with Erwin in this "canon timeline"?
> 
> Also, now that this fic is nearing its end, it's time for shameless plugs: I just started a new multichapter Levi/Reader fic that will replace this as my "casual light-ish fic" that I write once this fic is done ([To Sing a Song of Steel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20512595) being the more "ambitious"/high maintenance story since it's historical fantasy with a world made from scratch, it takes significantly more effort to write).
> 
> The new fic, [77 Gunshots](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20870726), is a 1920s Mafia AU taking place in the US with a revenge-driven, gun-wielding Reader infiltrating the mafia. It's going to be a high-tension thriller with a kind of badass Reader who doesn't hesitate to get her hands dirty. If you're at all interested, check it out, I just posted the first chapter!
> 
> Alright, time to stop rambling. As always, comments make me very happy and I love hearing from you guys, so please feel free to tell me what you thought of this action-packed chapter!
> 
> Until next time~!


	18. Macha Green

The feeling of warm sunshine on your naked back wakes you up. You stretch your languid limbs and yawn. You can feel a presence next to you, a relaxed arm around your naked waist, and a smile spreads on your sleepy features.

“Levi,” you murmur and turn to your other side. You see him, already awake and characteristically thoughtful. He’s propped his head on his hand, the other holding onto you tight.

“I missed this feeling,” you hum with no reservations. There’s nothing between you anymore. “Waking up knowing you’re next to me.”

With a cocked eyebrow, Levi reels you closer.

“Really?”

“Really.”

As you move towards him, you feel the soreness all over your body. After arriving at Levi’s apartment yesterday, you engaged in what could only be described as _a total bang fest_. So much so that afterwards, Levi ushered you to the shower, changed the sheets and scrubbed himself clean meticulously to get rid of the sticky substances all over.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” you mutter when you feel the dull pain on your back. Levi gives you a quizzical look, which you answer by shoving him a little.

“Did you have to go so hard last night?” you ask playfully.

“If I remember correctly, it was you who made the majority of initiatives,” Levi points out. You push him to lie down, snuggle up tight against his steady, toned chest, and close your eyes briefly.

“It’s still your fault,” you mutter. “You were the one who caused me to be so pent up in the first place.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

You open your eyes and look up to the stoic albeit gentle grey in his.

“What are you going to do now?”

Levi thinks it over, his hand absent-mindedly combing into your messy bedhead to tidy it up. You allow him, if anything, you’re leaning into the touch.

“I’m going to call Kenny and make a plan of action with him,” Levi starts. “My priorities are to find my mother and after I know where she is and I’m convinced she’s not in any danger with the cult, I’ll start taking measures to tear my father down.”

“What kind of measures are those?” you ask curiously. You lean up and kiss him before he can answer, taken over by a surge of affection when it again dawns on you that the wedding drama is over and you’re back together.

“I-” he starts but you kiss him again. “have-” another kiss, “prepared for-” and another.

“Will you stop that?” he barks, a little annoyed, and squishes your cheeks between his hands to keep your questing lips at bay.

You pout playfully and reach your hands to mirror his. You press Levi’s cheeks together and grin a little at the comical sight.

“Do you want to hear this or not?” Levi asks with an annoyed frown. You chuckle gently and pull your hands back.

“Fine, fine.”

Levi lets go of you.

“Anyway, I have been planning for the possibility that my mother would become disillusioned and leave that piece of garbage at some point.”

“Meaning you’ve been gathering discriminating evidence of Mr Dietrich and his cult for a while now, just waiting for the optimal moment to sack him?” comes your educated guess.

“Smart girl,” Levi hums and pats your head. You lean your chin on his chest with a harmless smile.

“I can’t wait to see him crash and burn,” you announce ominously. Levi gives you an amused eyebrow raise.

“Aren’t you being murderous,” he points out. You smile, openly sadistic.

“He tried to take my man,” you remind him. “And he would’ve succeeded had it not been for Erwin taking me to that stupid magic show.”

“A magic show?”

You recap the story of how you came to realise Mr Dietrich’s scam, to a rather puzzled response.

“So… You’re saying you realised my dad is a lying piece of shit because Erwin took you to see one of those magic shows he’s into?”

You shrug sheepishly.

“I’m not sure if I should be underwhelmed because something so mundane made you put the pieces together, or impressed your brain managed to go there with such a vague clue.”

You give him an unimpressed look.

“Don’t give me that sass you old man,” you scold him. He snorts and grabs your arm to roll you over. Suddenly on top of you and pinning you down, your breaths mingle. You stare deep into his eyes and tilt your head.

“Kiss me,” you command gently. He instantly leans down and your mouths come together. You nip at his lower lip, open your mouth for his tongue and for a moment, you engage in a heated, sloppy kiss. He then pulls back, eyes lidded and more vulnerable than before.

“It’s going to take a while to undo what my father has done to me,” he says honestly. “I still find it hard to trust people and there are very few who have earned even a fraction of that.”

“Very few being me and Erwin?” you guess innocently. Levi averts his eyes, revealing you hit a bullseye.

You huff and smile. Leaning up, you peck a kiss on his forehead.

“That’s okay. We can work on that,” you promise. “I’ll stand by you and help you. It’ll be alright.”

Levi nods and leans down to kiss you again. He then dismounts you, plops on his back and pulls you back against his chest, his hold possessive but also obviously deeply insecure.

“What was it like?” you ask quietly. “Growing up in the cult.”

“Hell,” Levi answers instantly. “When I was a child, I was raised to believe so many disgusting things. That my mother, and all women really, were beneath us, that I was destined to become a leader with infinite money and power, that lesser life forms deserve to be dominated by us, that I have the power to cure everything, that my father was a God…”

Levi grits his teeth and averts his gaze. You draw patterns on his naked chest with your fingertip and listen closely.

“It wasn’t until I was six years old when the illusion started to shatter. Until then, I bought everything he told me. I was a stupid, despicable kid.”

“You were a child,” you remind him softly. “Your father was the only person you could learn from.”

“Don’t call him a person. He’s subhuman. A piece of trash that should be eradicated,” Levi mutters. Your eyes gain a worried hue when you see the anguished fury in his eyes. You understand why it’s there, but you don’t think it’s healthy.

“What made you start doubting him?”

“He hides it well but he’s borderline alcoholic,” Levi explains. His eyes are glued to your hair and he’s idly twirling a lock around his index finger as he speaks.

“He hid it from me as well, for a long time, but one time when I was six, I saw him blasted drunk. I was asleep in my chambers when I suddenly heard this huge crashing sound. I tiptoed to my father’s lounge and found him on the ground, passed out cold. He had vomited all over his clothes and he lost control of his bladder and peed himself. He looked absolutely pathetic, not like a God at all.”

Deep disgust is laced in the way Levi speaks of the memory, nose wrinkling and eyes sharp.

“I went to fetch my mum. She woke him up and took him to bed. He gave her a beating the next day for allowing him to drink himself into that condition, and I still thought she deserved it because she was below us.”

Levi’s eyes turn pained and tormented. His obvious self-hatred cuts deep and you suddenly understand the depth of his guilt. It’s not only for leaving his mother behind, but it’s also for buying into his father’s worldview and imposing it on his mother.

Levi takes a deep breath and he looks afraid of your reaction when he opens his mouth the next time.

“A few months later, I hit my mother for the first time. I didn’t think much of it, she was prohibiting me from skipping roll call that morning. I had skipped a few times before and it would always result in my father first beating me for being out of line, and then my mother for not keeping me in the said line. She was probably trying to protect me more than herself. But I was sleepy, I was angry, I wanted to stay in bed and the opera signalling the start of roll call was getting on my nerves.”

Levi’s expression turns that of absolute self-loathing and his hand is shaking a little bit when he abruptly lets go of you as if afraid his soiled hand will suddenly burn your skin.

“I didn’t hit hard enough to leave any marks and compared to how much my father battered her, it probably didn’t hurt that much, but the look of crushing sadness in her eyes was enough to make the scales fall off. It was that moment when I realised she’s human, just like me. I never put my hands on her again after that.”

You listen intently, eyes attentive on him as he comes clean. You can instantly tell he’s never told this to anyone. Not Kenny, not Erwin. But he wants to tell his story to you.

“Ever since that day, I started to become more disillusioned. I asked my mother uncomfortable questions which she swiftly silenced. I became unnerved with the way the devotion and adoration in her eyes never ceased, no matter what my father did. I was afraid of ending up like her.”

You don’t interrupt him at any point. He needs to get this out in order to move forward. He keeps his hands at bay, disgusted with himself, and shakes his head.

“When Kenny started visiting us and revealed to me just how insane my father truly was, I was anxious. I wanted to get out, no matter the cost. My school years, until it was time for college, were filled with me putting up a front and privately begging Kenny to just take me away from the cult. He always told me the same thing, to try to change my mother’s mind and wait patiently while he sorts things out. When I finally left for college, I hadn’t managed to change my mother’s mind. I graduated, left her behind and have been living my life in the lap of luxury ever since.”

Levi’s hands clench into fists and he refuses to meet your eyes. He looks almost meek; scared and ashamed. The most vulnerable you’ve ever seen him.

“I couldn’t do a single thing on my own. My position, my money, my power, my influence, even my freedom were achieved by someone else. Kenny gave me the money and power and you got my freedom for me. I’m weak and if someone deserved to be rescued, it was my mother. Not me.”

Levi pulls away from you. You watch his hunching back with an unreadable expression.

“You now know what I’ve done. I put my hands on my mother, I bought into my father’s worldview and I never did anything on my own.”

He looks tense as if waiting for the moment you give him a disgusted look, get out of this bed and leave for good because of what he’s done. To him, his sins are unforgivable.

You don’t do anything of the sort. Instead, you grasp Levi’s shoulder and forcefully roll him on his back again. You grab his face in your hands and stare deep into your eyes.

“Levi, listen to me closely. Well, even if you don’t, I’m going to keep repeating this until it registers in that thick head of yours; You were _a child_. You were not equipped to question anything your father told you, you grew up in isolation. Your father raised you that way on purpose, to keep you from any contradicting information. You weren’t capable of challenging his views. When you finally started understanding your situation, you took the information you were given and used it to change. You grew. You learnt. You made a mistake by hitting your mother once when you were six-“

“Seven,” Levi mutters as if that would change the situation in any way.

“Fine, seven. You shouldn’t have done that, but you didn’t know any better and once you knew better, you never did it again. Do not hold yourself responsible for what your father did to you,” you tell him, voice weighty and determined.

“I love you. Knowing your past changes nothing for me. I will stay with you and help you through this. Don’t for a minute think that my feelings are flimsy enough to dispel the moment you tell me you were an asshole to your mother once as a seven-year-old. That’s absurd.”

Levi listens, his expression still tortured, but he’s not pushing you away or trying to leave.

“I’ve been an asshole to her my whole life. I couldn’t save her,” he points out with a quiet, tired voice.

“You tried. You tried your hardest but she didn’t want to be saved. Not only you, your uncle tried to save her as well but she didn’t listen. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.”

You understand where the guilt stems from. You really do. You’ve lived your whole adult life with similar baggage yourself. Only you never really tried to help your mother in any way. You were too young and self-absorbed to notice until it was too late. Levi’s not guilty of the same sin.

“There’s still hope. We don’t know where she is but she could be alive and well somewhere. Don’t throw in the towel yet. Maybe you can save her still.”

You slide your hand from his cheeks to his hair and pull him in to give him a gentle, loving kiss. You’re a unit now and you will stand by your man. You chose him as much as he chose you.

Levi’s arms loop around you and squeeze you in tight as he groans and kisses you back, something almost cathartic in the way he does it. Like you’re giving him the redemption he’s yearned for, after over three decades of waiting.

As you pull back, Levi sits up and reaches for his bedside table.

“Hold out your hand,” he orders. You do as you’re told, having a good idea what’s to come.

When the silver bracelet is slipped around your wrist, you smile, relieved. Your mood instantly brightens when you see the piece of jewellery back where it belongs.

Levi hesitates for a moment but then closes his hands over yours.

“I have the engagement ring still,” he starts slowly, apprehensively. “If you want to, I’ll marry you right now, hire you back, go back to what we had. Just say the word and I’m yours.”

You smile.

“I appreciate the offer, but we skipped quite a few stages to cover for your need for a shotgun wedding.”

You squeeze his hand to reassure him you’re not going anywhere, even if you turn him down for now.

“So… How about just a regular, stress-free relationship with dates, sex and lots of talking?”

The flash of insecurity in Levi’s eyes makes you cup his cheek firmly.

“Levi, I _will_ marry you,” you reassure with clear eyes. “I can promise you. I will marry you eventually, but I want to do so after starting anew with a clean slate. I want time between now and then to get the shadow of all this drama away from our marriage. Okay?”

Levi takes a deep breath, fighting down the gut reaction that having you take any form of distance to him causes thanks to his abandonment issues. He nods and cups your hand.

“In that case, I will propose to you again when the time is right. Just promise me you won’t say no when I do,” he murmurs. You nod.

“I’ll make it extra fancy,” he promises. Your smile melts into an unimpressed eye-roll.

“I don’t need fancy anything. I just want you.”

“I am fancy,” Levi points out. You snort a laugh and shake your head with a resigned smile.

“If you want to do something extravagant for someone, get Erwin a fancy magic kit and give Armin a full-time job,” you suggest innocently. Levi gives you a raised eyebrow.

“Armin? You mean Intern Arlert?”

“Yeah. He helped me out,” you hum. Levi looks a little bit suspicious. You chuckle and push him down. You straddle his naked hips and lean in with a smile.

“He’s the one who blasted that opera through the speakers so I could get past your assistant,” you confess. Levi makes a sour face.

“I swore to fire whoever did that if I ever caught them. I assumed it was you and I had already fired you,” Levi muses out loud.

“I blackmailed him into it,” you announce proudly. “But well, you’ve definitely fired people for lesser offences.”

You can’t even count how many people he’s fired for ridiculous reasons during your years in his company.

Levi gives you a slow, annoyed blink, unimpressed that you haven’t figured it out yet.

“What?”

He sighs, resigned to having to spell it out for you.

“After I ran away from the cult and became the CEO, my father has relentlessly sent cult members and their relatives to apply for positions in Ackerman Corp. to spy on me, and I came up with bullshit excuses to terminate their contracts whenever I discovered them because I didn’t want to admit my ties to the cult on any official papers.”

“Oh,” you utter dumbly. It makes sense, then. Why Levi fired so many people and why his recruitment procedures are ridiculously slow and tedious. Levi cups your chin with a slanted grin.

“Not so smart anymore now are you?”

“Shut up,” you chuckle and lean down to kiss him. When he rolls you over and settles his hips between your legs, you do nothing to stop him.

-

You’re quiet as you park in front of the mundane-looking building. You reach to take Levi’s hand on the steering wheel.

“Are you sure you want me to come with you?” you ask carefully. You got the news this morning that Kenny had managed to locate Levi’s mother. She was alive, but her situation was not… Ideal, to put it mildly.

Nonetheless, after a few weeks of searching, you finally know where Kuchel Ackerman is.

“I need you to come with me,” Levi admits. It’s all over his face that he’s scared of what he’ll see when he goes inside.

“Alright.”

Levi’s hand twitches in yours and he gives you a small, joyless smile before reaching to open the door. He climbs out of his car and looks at the four-storey building. It’s made of red bricks and there’s nothing exciting to the eye. The yard is kempt but uneventful, the building is clean but very unexciting.

It’s in the middle of the day, both you and Levi took a day off to do this. The fewer visitors and people you see in the hallways, the better. You want as much privacy as you can get. Luckily, getting a day off from Erwin wasn’t hard and Levi’s instructed his assistant to turn to Mike Zacharias should anyone ask for Levi.

After a few sessions of sitting down and conversing about how you could make your relationship as healthy and balanced as possible, you both agreed that the boss-employee -dynamic needs to go. Levi, happy enough with his current assistant, begrudgingly suggested you keep working for Erwin instead. Erwin was more than happy to keep you, and so you mutually agreed that you wouldn’t be returning to Ackerman Corporation.

You meet up a lot after work, you go on dates, you talk about yourselves honestly and things are great between you. According to Armin, now a full-time employee thanks to you pulling some strings for him, rumours about all the shit you went through to date Levi are running rampant amidst the office corridors, but you don’t really care about all that.

Now, however, you have something more urgent to think about. You ring the doorbell and are buzzed in. Levi holds your hand as he walks to the reception.

“I’m here to see Kuchel Ackerman,” he tells the lady at the counter. She takes a look at her computer.

“She’s on the second floor, E wing, shared room 28.”

Levi nods and steers you towards the elevators. You ride to the second floor and start navigating to the E-wing. The corridors are quiet and empty save for a few people in white uniforms walking by here and there.

When you make it to the right door, Levi has to take a deep breath to steady himself. You squeeze his hand tight.

“Whatever happens, I’ll be right next to you,” you promise. Levi pulls you in for a brief hug to give himself some much-needed courage. Then, he pulls away, grabs the knob and opens the door.

He steps into a room that’s on the smaller side. Two beds are situated on the opposite walls with small bedside tables and desks next to them. The two windows in the room are barred, and the fluorescent ceiling lamps give the room a sterile, uncomfortable tint.

Despite clearly containing accommodations for two, there’s only one person in the room. She’s sitting on one of the beds, in a white, dotted hospital gown. In her hands is a newspaper, opened at the crossword puzzle, and a pencil.

You can see a few nonsensical words scribbled on the paper, and the woman is looking at the words and blank spaces next to them with a lost, confused frown.

She doesn’t look old enough to be here, with her hair still raven-coloured and thick, cut to shoulder length and pulled on a clumsy ponytail. You instantly notice she has Levi’s eyes when you see the familiar grey, but where Levi’s are sharp and almond-shaped, hers are round and non-aggressive, perfectly proportioned to her pearly features.

Levi’s expression is a mix of many things. Relief, grief, guilt, horror, insecurity, apprehension. He’s conflicted as he gently pulls his hand loose from your hold and slowly walks to the woman.

He kneels in front of her. She turns her lost eyes to him and just stares wordlessly for a moment. Then, something in her eyes shifts as she recognises him, though thanks to her condition, she can’t instantly place why.

“Mom? Do you remember me?” Levi starts, voice cracking a little as he sees the disorientation on her face. “It’s me. Levi.”

She watches for a long while as she struggles to connect the confusing jumble of incomplete memories together into a coherent picture. You look at the scene with an empathetic expression.

When you heard Kuchel was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer and that Mr Dietrich not only divorced her but kicked her out and dumped her in a low-budged, government-funded nursing home, you understood fully why Levi got so angry he gave his pillow a good pummelling.

For a blood-chilling moment, you think she won’t recognise him, but then, her expression changes. Her eyes turn wide and fill with tears, she reaches her shaky hands to cup Levi’s cheek and comb his hair back from his face.

“My boy,” she whispers and looks over his face like it’s a beacon of light after years and years of confusing darkness. Finally, something around her makes sense to her, and that something is seeing her son.

“My Levi,” she breathes, and the tears are now rolling freely down her face. She pulls him in and hugs him tight to her chest.

Levi instantly hugs her back.

“I’m sorry, mum. I’m sorry,” he chokes up. She combs his hair back and cradles him in her arms. You can’t help it, you get a little misty-eyed at the sight.

When she pulls back, she looks awfully hopeful. She’s obviously remembered something else.

“Where is your father, dear? Where’s Sigmund?”

Instantly, Levi’s vulnerable face turns more closed-off when he realises that even with her condition, she’s still pining for her ex-husband. Hell, she probably hasn’t even fully understood that he left her.

“He’s no longer a part of our lives,” Levi explains vaguely. Kuchel looks confused but the thought soon leaves her head as she pulls Levi in for another hug.

You watch the reunion in silence for a moment before concluding this is an intimate moment you don’t want to disturb. You quietly slip out of the room and start making some phone calls and Google searches.

When Levi steps out of the room thirty minutes later, he looks emotionally drained. Seeing his mother, while obviously relieving knowing the odds of her being alive weren’t great, had a big toll on him. Despite that, he wastes no time marching to the elevator with a clear objective.

“Before you say anything, I already started looking for better nursing homes,” you tell him as you fall into step behind him, your assistant mode switched on. He nods. When you arrive at the first floor, he goes right to the receptionist and asks about the procedure of moving places.

A week later, Kuchel Ackerman is moved to an upscale nursing home where she’s appointed her personal caretakers who spend time with her, take her on walks and give her tasks to complete in order to upkeep whatever little functionality she has when it comes to operating her own life.

Levi dedicates every Sunday morning to visiting his mother. Sometimes the visits go well and she remembers him, sometimes she’s restless and cries because she can’t recognise him, sometimes she gets aggressive and demands she be taken to her husband.

Levi does it every week, even though he’s always completely exhausted afterwards.

When Christmas draws nearer, you use the extended break from work for quietly moving over to Levi’s place. The few months of dating went by smoothly, and you start your domestic life with no squabbles.

At the beginning of the following year, after Levi is positive both you and his mother are well protected from his father, Levi decides to finally drop the bomb and hand in all the evidence he’s gathered throughout the years. Mr Dietrich is arrested, leaving the cult disoriented and scattered.

The reason for his arrest is, uninterestingly enough, a massive track record of tax fraud as he’s failed to declare his cult members’ earnings properly and pay taxes for them.

The ensuing party celebrating the good riddance of Sigmund Dietrich, thrown by none other than Kenny, is legendary in how much of a train wreck it is. Starting from the fact that he booked Erwin of all people to provide entertainment with his amateur-level magic show.

Despite that, you get merrily drunk, jump Levi and basically tear his clothes off in the car on your way back (to the absolute horror of Mr Abboud, Levi’s driver). You spend the following morning holding your head in absolute shame as Levi shoots smug grins at you over his cup of finely ground macha tea.

Life goes on with little ups and downs, and you can only pray it stays that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo for resolutions, even if they're bittersweet. Woo for me being absolutely hopeless when it comes to trying to stay on hiatus for all of October but then just cranking out fic updates anyway because I have no self-control.
> 
> Either way, we have two chapters to go, one of which will be an epilogue. Next chapter, I think all of us have earned a drama-free, happy wedding, so I'll do just that :)
> 
> Plug time! I just started testing my wings with a canon-compliant Levi/Reader in the form of a [Landlocked](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14824587/chapters/34306884) branch and I just posted the first half. If you don't know what Landlocked is, it's my personal passion project that consists of a setup chapter and then standalone continuations to the setup in the form of one-shots, each depicting the reader character with one of the AoT guys. If you want to see my vision for a non-AU Levi/Reader, feel free to check it out! (I've also published branches for Eren, Armin and Erwin already so if you dig any of those fine men, by all means, help yourselves!)
> 
> ALSO! As a little present for myself and my readers, I recently commissioned one of my readers (and a friend of mine) to illustrate the scene where Levi and Frida share their first kiss. You can view the artwork [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SJ6c1jLCb/?igshid=1amu7m7nt0m51)! (She also made illustrations for [The Carnivore](https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SJ1JPj_Lr/?igshid=1to06tj1xghg5) and [Landlocked](https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SJ_KfjEjv/?igshid=lywqal1i1hqa), btw!)
> 
> Comments make me happy and give me confidence to keep writing. As always, I'd love to hear from you :) Until next time!


	19. Orange Rooibos

”I told you three weeks ago that caviar is out of the question!”

“What else are you supposed to eat at a wedding?”

“Normal food! Roast, salad, baked potatoes-“

“What are we, two peasants getting married in the outskirts of town in the 12th century?”

“Oh, haha. Really funny, Levi, re-”

“What about this beautiful dress? The whole fabric is laced with hand-knit lace with a floral pattern-”

“Tacky,” both you and Levi tell the shop assistant in unison without as much as turning to look. You’re glaring at each other hard, arms crossed, and heads tilted upwards.

The tension soon resolves itself when you both break out into a small smile and chuckle. Without minding the presence of other wedding gown shoppers around you, you walk up to Levi and loop a lazy arm around his shoulders.

“I know you want an extravagant wedding but try to see things from my perspective. I want my relatives to have a good time, not spend the whole day stressing whether they know the proper etiquette to eating caviar.”

Levi looks a little grumpy, but he wraps a familiar, possessive arm around your waist either way and pulls you in.

“Fine,” he breathes. “No caviar.”

“You’re the perfect man,” you appease him and peck a kiss on his cheek. Then, you turn back to the shop assistant.

“Now, as for a dress that’s not tacky,” you hum at her.

You see people give you small glances. Some of them recognise Levi as the CEO of Ackerman Corp., some look at your flashy ring.

You’ve been living together for almost nine months now. Levi popped the question at six months and since then, you’ve been in a constant stream of petty fights over the wedding.

“Will you at least allow me to buy you a dress that’s not pieces of washcloth hung up in unflattering clusters?” Levi asks with a mutter. You give him a raised eyebrow.

“Will you excuse us for a minute?” you tell the shop assistant, who’s looking very awkward. She lets out a relieved breath and hurries to tend to someone else.

You cup Levi’s cheek with a temperate smile.

“Are you still that grumpy about the dress Erwin gave me?”

Levi wants things posh and proper. More so than usual. It probably has to do with Erwin giving you a rather expensive dress for your birthday which you made the mistake of wearing too frequently. Levi feels like he’s losing some kind of imaginary battle for your favour.

“You wear it a lot.”

“It’s a nice dress,” you shrug sheepishly.

“You never let me buy you stuff like that.”

“Levi,” you laugh. “You gave me a luxury cruise that cost probably three times that dress.”

“He’s still fond of you. You know that, right?”

Levi’s possessive arm tightens around you. You huff with a small smile and comb his hair back.

“Of course, I know that. But he knows I chose you and he respects that.”

Levi huffs and pulls you in without minding the people in the store.

“You’re mine.”

“I am,” you confirm easily and give him a patient smile. It’s far from the first time he gets jealous like this. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll let you blow the equivalent of my five years’ salary on this wedding.”

Levi sighs and grasps your hand gently. He’s slowly been working on his emotional expression and has advanced to the point where he can explain his emotions instead of just lashing out at you or clamming up.

“I never thought I’d marry,” he explains with a low, awkward voice, “let alone that I’d marry someone I fancy. So, I want the wedding to be something that blows everyone out of the water.”

You cross your arms and sigh gently.

“Levi, I’m willing to meet you halfway, I just want to be sure you’re spending all this money to make the day the best it can be for yourself, not to show off to Erwin or anyone else you perceive to be a threat. I’m not going anywhere even if we don’t coat the chocolate truffles with real gold. I chose you, not because you have money but because you’re you.”

You know that at the root of Levi’s lavish usage of money is a deeply seeded fear of abandonment and the insecurity that if he can’t provide you with absolutely everything, you’ll leave. You’re slowly working on it with him, but sometimes it comes out in displays like these.

Levi’s shoulders relax a little with the reassurance and he huffs. He grabs your hand just to fiddle with the wedding ring. A reminder.

What Levi’s father did has left him scarred and you know not all of it can be undone. But you’ll do your best to make Levi more comfortable again.

It takes you almost five hours to find a dress you both approve of, and you honour the compromise you promised to make by not looking at the price tag and allowing Levi to buy it for you, a fact that makes him visibly happy despite his best efforts at hiding it.

-

It’s two days before the wedding when you get a call from the security informing you about three suspicious individuals demanding access to your apartment.

In the background, you can already hear the source of the noise, the impending headache, through the receiver.

“I have the right to meet my child! You people in your dandy suits, power-tripping like you’re someone important-” you hear an all-too-familiar voice and roll your eyes.

“Admit them in,” you instruct and hang up.

“Levi! Whatever happens during the next few hours, I want you to stay polite or at the very least, stay quiet,” you call into the apartment.

Levi comes out of his office a few seconds later with a quizzical look.

“What do you mean?”

You open your mouth to explain the gist of it when the elevator stops at the top floor and a second later, there’s a demanding knock on the front door.

You can only be thankful you talked Levi into renovating the top floor so that the elevator no longer leads straight into your home, but instead to a small room with the front door.

You give Levi a small apologetic wince and walk to the door. You open it, just to see a familiar face with a large smile.

“Frida!”

From the corner of your eye, you see Levi tense up and jolt when the man behind the door scoops you up into a bear hug.

“…dad,” you greet, voice stifled against his shoulder. You pull back and adjust the hem of your shirt. You glance at the two people behind him just to confirm what you suspected; he took your step-siblings with him.

Your dad pulls back and ruffles your hair.

“Who would’ve known, my sharp little daughter, getting married,“ he beams.

You decided not to tell him beforehand and just send an invite in the mail for this exact reason. He likes to barge in with any excuse he has and enthusiastically reacquaint himself with you.

You don’t meet your father often and thus, the seldom times you do, he’s always overjoyed. You were a divorce child and while your father never abandoned you or stopped caring about you, he got re-married and moved so far away that you quite naturally drifted apart.

By the time your mother died, you had a lot of your life rooted in your home city, and you were just a couple of years from going to college as well, so you both decided that it would be better for you to stay where you grew up and live with your grandmother until you were all grown.

Had you desired to live with your father, he would have taken you gladly.

You look over his boyish features, the balding head of dark curly hair, his relaxed combination of a cheaply made T-shirt and baggy jeans, the small beer belly he’s put on since you last saw him, and then turn to smile at your two younger step-siblings.

You were never too close to them. Nina, the younger one, now 20, had a bit of a rebellious phase a few years back when she turned 18. Living in a small, rural town with nothing but a grocery store and a dive bar, she used to sometimes come over to get a taste of the city life.

She would mostly just spend days shopping, nights at the bar and your place was just a pitstop for sleep.

Nonetheless, you know her better than Rob, your stepbrother. He never expressed much interest in the city life, and after graduating gymnasium he started working with your father on his car repair business. Seemingly happy being a blue-collar worker for the foreseeable future at 22, he moved out only a few blocks away and has preferred to live rurally.

You’ve only met your father’s new wife a handful of times, but she’s always seemed like a perfectly pleasant person. A hairdresser turned housewife, she had to turn down the wedding invitation due to her brother being in an accident and needing some help around the house.

Your father carelessly kicks his shoes off and looks around the apartment. When his eyes land on Levi, who’s watching warily, he grabs his hand with more familiarity than Levi’s used to.

“My son-in-law!” your father exclaims happily and gives him a warm handshake along with a pat on the shoulder. He then starts unceremoniously looking around the apartment, giving enthusiastic comments about all the different rooms and gadgets Levi has.

Nina looks a little flabbergasted when she sees Levi in person, and Rob seems to be all for leaving as soon as possible.

“Can I sleep over whenever I’m coming here for partying?” Nina asks you hopefully.

“Of course n-” Levi starts with a snort, but you quickly clamp a hand over his mouth and give Nina a smile.

“We’ll find some kind of solution,” you promise. Though, you can already tell the said solution will be Levi buying her a hotel room to avoid having strangers over at his house.

You’re impressed it takes your father almost ten minutes before a loud crash sounds in the apartment, followed by a meek “ _whoops, hope that wasn’t too expensive”_.

You meet Levi’s calmly scandalised eyes with a shrug.

“Think of him as a golden retriever. He’s big and friendly but not very graceful,” you explain. Levi rolls his eyes.

“Ah, right. Frida, sweetie, we forgot to book a hotel room, hope it’s okay we stay here for a few nights,” you hear your father call from the living room.

“We’ll buy you a hotel room, don’t worry about it,” you call to him. You can already tell Levi’s not having it if these three stay here unannounced.

“He looks so serious,” Nina whispers to you as Levi walks to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of bourbon. “Is he as scary as he looks?”

“To me? No. To most other people? Probably,” you shrug. You give her a small pat on the head and walk to the living room.

A minute later, you’ve herded your father from Levi’s gym to sit on the living room couch. Rob looks too afraid to touch anything whereas Nina throws Levi small, obviously starstruck looks.

You start browsing your laptop and swiftly pick the most normal-looking hotel you can find. You don’t want to find out your dad managed to empty 1500 euros worth of snacks from the mini-bar because he thought they were complementary.

Your father makes enthusiastic small talk with Levi, happily ignoring the polite yet one-worded replies he gets from him in return. Rob seems vastly uncomfortable and Nina tries her best to contain the thirsty glances she throws at Levi when she thinks you’re not looking.

When you return from driving them over to the hotel at the end of the evening, you point a demanding finger at Levi to keep him from speaking out.

“I put up with your father’s bullshit, you have no right to complain about your in-laws,” you tell him. He looks at you over his laptop where he’s sitting on the couch.

“I didn’t say anything,” he points out.

“I saw it, you think my dad’s an idiot.”

“That doesn’t make him unlikeable,” Levi offers a backhanded compliment. “Aside from breaking about 500 euros worth of porcelain decorations, he seemed tolerable enough. It was your sister’s staring I had a hard time stomaching.”

“I made sure to tell her plenty of stories about the outrageous demands you had for me when I was still your assistant. That seemed to diminish her interest.”

“Good.”

You lay down on the couch next to Levi and dig your toes under his butt just to piss him off. He gives you a small, irritated glance but decides to ignore it.

“How’s your mother?”

“Alright.”

“Can she come to the wedding?”

“Depends on her mood that day, but she’s been calm lately. She can probably attend with her caretaker.”

“That’s nice,” you hum. It feels bizarre. In just a few short days, you’ll wed Levi.

“Frida Ackerman,” you mutter out loud. “It doesn’t roll off the tongue like Frida Reader does.”

“I offered to take your name and you declined, too late to start complaining now,” Levi informs you, eyes glued to the important-looking e-mail on his screen. You sit up with a sigh and wrap your arms around his shoulders.

You kiss his ear and smile at the content huff he releases as a result.

-

The ceremony hall is glistening with the thousands and thousands of crystals hanging all around the ceiling and walls. The few people invited are sitting, fidgeting with anticipation. Your side is fuller than Levi’s, you possess more friends and family than him.

You slip your arm into your father’s and take a deep breath. Your heart is hammering in your chest as you look over the hem of your dress. The layers of pearly whites, the engagement ring glistening in your ring finger, the familiar silver bracelet in place as a small gesture no one but you and Levi understand.

The door is just slightly ajar as you wait outside the hall. At the end of that red carpet, waits Levi.

“Nervous?” your father asks and places a warm hand on your shoulder. You give him a small smile.

“A little.”

“You’re happy with him, right?” he then reassures. “He treats you right?”

You roll your eyes a little. Trust your father to only think of making sure when you’re only a dozen seconds from walking down the aisle. You chuckle.

“I’m happy with him. He treats me right.”

“I want you to be happy, Frida. I know I’ve been absent a lot and haven’t always been the best father… I couldn’t help with your mother and-”

“Dad, it’s fine. I’m doing alright. I’m happy. You don’t need to feel guilty for anything.”

Your father squeezes your shoulder a little with a smile.

“I can’t help but worry. You’re my precious daughter after all. He seems to care for you deeply. I’m happy for you.”

With that, the organ starts blasting with full force and the doors swing open. You watch your step in your delicate glass heels as you walk towards the altar. You give Erwin a small, nervous smile as you pass him by and see him enthusiastically giving you both thumbs up.

Levi’s waiting at the end of the aisle.

Hair just as perfect as always. His suit just as crisp and meticulously steam-cleaned. Eyes sharp and always, always on you.

As you approach the altar, Levi offers you his arm. Your hand easily wraps around it as you step away from your father. You give him a small smile from under the veil and lick your lips nervously.

Your eyes are glued to Levi, so adoring and lovestruck that most of what the priest says goes way over your head. All you can muster is offering Levi your hand so he can slip your wedding ring on and doing the same to him in return. You manage to say a convincing “ _I do”_ when you’re asked the fateful question.

You look at Levi, eyes sparkling with anticipation. His eyes are glued to yours, and he practically tosses the veil over your head, grabs your neck and yanks you in to kiss you. You release an uncharacteristically girlish giggle and easily take support from his shoulders.

You hear shutters around you as people take photos, and you could swear you hear _“I guess this means I truly lost”_ coming from Erwin’s general direction as a small mutter.

You walk down the aisle, away from the hall, arm linked with Levi’s and the widest smile on your face.

-

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, the card has- Oops.”

Erwin has not improved since the party you threw to celebrate Levi’s father being behind bars, as is evident in the way he drops the deck of cards on the floor. The _Sabre Dance_ he chose as background music does nothing to save the situation.

“Who is that bumbling idiot?” your father leans in to ask. You’re gathered around the small table Erwin has set up for himself. He’s wearing a glittering suit with a tall tophat and you can hear some cooing that definitely sounds like pigeons coming from underneath.

“That’s the CEO of IntelAcc and my boss, keep it down,” you mutter back to him. The people are clapping politely as Erwin grabs the right card from the floor and shows it to the audience with a dashing smile.

Truth is, you knew he hasn’t improved. You hired him just to see the irritated twitch at the corner of Levi’s eyebrow as Erwin stumbles through his show without as much as getting flustered despite fucking up constantly.

This is a poker face that can butter up seasoned businessmen, a few unfortunate missteps in his magic routine isn’t going to faze him.

One of your friends from college, Sofia, seems especially amused by this, and when Erwin’s painstaking routine finally comes to an end, met with polite yet awkward applause, she walks up to him to exchange a few words.

The party venue is only a block from the wedding hall you exchanged vows in. It’s large and exquisite, with heavy satin curtains matching your wedding dress hanging from the wide, tall windows. The floor is marble, and the silk-covered dining tables take only a fraction of the large open space where guests are mingling with glasses of champagne in their hands.

Prior to Erwin’s magic show, you toasted, had a lovely five-course dinner of salad, soup, scallops, lamb and red velvet cake. _The Van Schagen Brothers_ resume their languid, seductive jazz as Erwin turns off the music he was blasting from a cheap boombox.

You watch Erwin and Sofia discuss something, both smiling and equally mischievous. She was always a witty kind of girl, smart as a whip, mostly cool and collected but with a sense of humour that’s just a touch on the twisted side.

You don’t have a whole lot of time to watch their encounter before you’re cornered by Hange, Mike and Armin, all wearing suits and bows. Hange was never a dress kind of person.

“Look at our blushing bride,” Hange grins and loops an arm around your shoulder. “Who would’ve known you’re the one to finally tame our grumpy boss.”

Out of Levi’s company, these three are the only people who got an invitation to the wedding. Hange and Mike from Levi and Armin from you.

You smile at them.

“I don’t believe I’m blushing,” you point out, but you’re in a good mood. Not as good a mood as Levi’s obviously in, seeing Erwin embarrass himself in front of you, but you’re still happy enough to toast with your three previous co-workers.

“Still. Impressive for you to be the one who finally catches our uncatchable boss,” Mike says, a little tipsy already.

“I wouldn’t be here without Armin,” you admit. “He saved me by sneaking into the broadcast room and blasting opera through the speakers to create an opening for me to sneak in.”

“That was you?” Hange laughs and slams his back. “Nice, I knew you had it in you!”

“To do what?” Armin asks meekly.

“To pick on our CEO.”

“I didn’t want to,” Armin murmurs. You wince sympathetically. As compensation, at least you got him a full-time job with full benefits, elevating him from the intern status.

“Send Mr Abboud my regards when you see him,” you suddenly recall. You don’t see Levi’s driver a lot nowadays, aside from sometimes having him pick Levi up just as you’re about to leave for work yourself, as you no longer work for the Ackerman Corporation.

“He’s very happy with the raise you got him,” Armin says with a small smile. “Says he finally has the money to get his in-laws a better apartment back in Lebanon.”

“Then that’s good. I’m glad.”

A few of your friends from junior high are gesturing for you to do shots with them, so you part ways with Armin and the rest with a small wave of your hand.

The night is still young and warm from the sunny summer day that preceded it. A perfect night for letting loose.

-

The door slams open. Levi practically drags you in, pushes you into the nearest wall and kisses you, mouth hungry with the distinct, tangy taste of red wine.

“Don’t tear the dress,” you breathe into the kiss, just to be met with a chuckle. Levi pulls back and opens his mouth, without a doubt to tell you he can just buy you a new one, but you shut him up by grasping his tie and pulling him in for another kiss.

He lifts you up, your dress swishing against the floor a little as he wraps his arms around your waist and looks up at you with his signature unreadable expression.

“You look good in white,” he observes. You draw up an eyebrow. The night is quiet around you, the party is probably still going strong at the ceremony hall but you decided to bail and come home. Especially after seeing Erwin attempting to impress Sofia by doing a handstand which he had no sufficient skills for, all the while Kenny and your father were cheering him on.

“And you look good in black,” you compliment him in return. Your hand sinks into his hair. “Why don’t you take your wife to bed and fuck her silly?”

Something flashes in Levi’s eyes and he starts carrying you through the dimly lit hallway, towards your bedroom.

You fall on the crisp silken sheets with a small thump, your hair falling all over the pillow and the skirts of your dress raising towards your knees.

You give Levi a playful smile, your eyes flickering down to where you see his thin fingers loosen his tie. One of these days, you’ll rile him up enough to use it to tie up your hands.

He slips his jacket to the floor and opens his shirt. You sit up on the bed, perch a hand on his exposed stomach and kiss a path after your touches, worshipping the marble-like skin.

He’s perfect.

Your hands make quick work of his belt, and his pants fall to the floor with a clack. You shamelessly mouth his already erect member through the fabric of his boxers, eyes glued upwards to the stormy grey of his eyes.

He moves his hand to grab your hair but hesitates midway when he realises your hair is still tied and sprayed in a full wedding hairdo. You smile at him and pull enough pins off to let your hair fall freely on your shoulders.

You yank his boxers down and grab his length without any resemblance of inhibitions. You hear him groan, you see him lick his lips with an obviously possessive look in his eyes as his hand slips into your hair that’s stiff and coarse from all the hairspray.

You take him in your mouth like you have so many times before, tongue rolling around the tip, and relish in the moans he lets out. His hand in your hair guides your mouth as you lovingly and attentively worship the intimate skin, your hands gently splayed on his lower stomach.

He looks at the two rings on your finger, glimmering in the light of the bedside table as you pleasure him, for the first time as his wife.

When he pulls back, he wastes no time kicking off the rest of his clothes and pinning you down on the bed. His mouth claims yours, then your jaw, then your throat. You feel his teeth raking against the sensitive skin, his tongue soothing the sting just a little.

His hand slides up your leg, under the skirts of the white dress until he finds the waist of your stockings. He rolls them off with nimble fingers, and you’re just about to roll over so he can take off the dress that’s in the way now when Levi suddenly surges under the hem.

You feel the heated puffs of his breath move under the layered fabric, up your inner thigh. You have a fleeting thought of insecurity, it’s been a long day of dancing and partying after all, but when he shows no signs of recoiling due to his inner clean freak emerging, you relax and move your legs apart.

His delicate fingers hook under your panties and peel them off with one, fluid motion. Your breathing is light and your heartbeat fluttery as you place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

It’s not like he’s never done this before, but there’s an additional layer of intimacy that comes with the marriage and the fact that he intends to do this while you’re still in the innocent white of your wedding dress.

His breath is humid against your sex and you feel his tongue, lapping against the slit in one, fluid motion. You moan softly, your back arches on its own and your hand finds Levi’s hair under the dress.

“Fuck, Levi,” you breathe as you feel his tongue start moving against your clit, his hand rubbing up and down the slit for a moment to spread the wetness before slipping two fingers inside you.

Your whimpers and moans echo in the room as Levi’s mouth drives you absolutely insane. His tongue moves over your clit, his fingers curling against your walls until you’re bordering on incoherent. You spread your legs wider for him, your hand grabbing his hair with an edge of roughness to keep his head right where it is, as if there was a serious threat that Levi would move away.

He loves making you scream, after all.

You chant an incomprehensible string of Levi’s name, profanities, yesses and moans under your breath, writhing just a little as you’re driven closer and closer to an orgasm. Every lap of his tongue, every thrust of his fingers, and you inch further towards the end.

Levi. Your husband. Pressed between your legs. Pleasuring you with his mouth so hard you struggle with forming a coherent thought. Making your breath so shallow with arousal that you feel dizzy.

He goes just a bit faster, you hear him release a hungry, possessive growl against your intimate flesh and your mind shatters. You forget everything for a moment and the only thought you can hold onto as you gasp for breath and come against his mouth is that you’re his.

He can have you any way he wants, and you’ll happily oblige.

He emerges from underneath the dress, wipes his mouth to the back of his hand and grabs your waist to practically yank you down to his level

His hands are rough as he unclasps your dress with record speed, forehead pressed against yours and eyes riled up and dark.

You help him the best you can with undoing the complicated fastenings but with your shaky hands, you’re more in the way than of assistance.

As soon as the dress loosens around you, he pulls it off. You raise your hips to make it easier on him and the second he’s chucked the heavy clothing off the bed, you grab him and reel him down on top of you. Your legs lock around his waist and you feel his prick, straining and hot, rubbing against your slick crotch.

You dig your heels into his tail bone and practically kick him down until you feel him enter you. Your eyes meet and you can see the dark lust and possessiveness. Underneath that is the tender love and adoration, the protectiveness, the will to spend the rest of his life with you come hell or high water, and you crash your mouths together.

“Take me,” you breathe. He starts moving, hips snapping down with unrestrained vigour as he fucks you into the mattress. He bites your lower lip gently, nipping at your mouth before his slick tongue comes out to rub against yours.

He grunts as you clench your muscles around him, your manicured nails scratching down his back a bit in just the right way that he finds incredibly sexy.

You feel him rub against a spot inside you, already tender and sensitive from his fingers, and you shudder a bit in pleasure. You break the kiss to kiss up Levi’s cheek to his ear as he rams into you.

“Levi,” you breathe shakily. “Fuck me. Fuck your wife.”

Immediately, Levi groans. He grabs your wrists and slams them down beside your head on the mattress. His hips pause and he presses your foreheads together, eyes full of fire.

“Say that again,” he demands, his low voice buzzing against your lips.

“Fuck your wife,” you plead, hands relaxed and body limber under him. You tilt your head back to expose your neck to him, the rings and bracelet marking his ownership on your left hand.

His composure snaps, he groans and lets go of your wrist just to link your fingers together, his other hand cupping your cheek to press your heads against each other as he claims your lips.

He moves faster, with such intensity that you can hear the bed make a small sound each time he slams in. You kiss him like your life depends on it, moans and groans drowning against his lips as he takes you, for the first time as your husband.

You see the tell-tale signs of his impending orgasm. The way he swallows, the frisson you feel on his back, the way he pauses with a groan. You feel something warm shoot inside you and you pause, chest heaving and breathing laboured.

Levi stays completely still for a second, lips locked mid-kiss, and you can almost hear the cogs turning in his head.

It only now occurs to both of you that you didn’t use a condom.

As he draws back to meet your eyes, he looks a little nervous. He pulls out slowly and looks down at where your bodies were joined just moments ago.

“I’ll get you a tissue,” he murmurs and moves to sit on the edge of the bed. He starts going through his bedside table in search of some paper, deep in thought.

You go through your own feelings, and when you turn to look at him, there’s an unreadable gleam in your eyes.

“Levi,” you murmur and reach a hand to stroke his naked back. “I can go and get a pill tomorrow if that’s what you want. But if there ever comes a day you’d like to leave out the condom, just know I’m read-”

“I’m ready,” Levi cuts you off. He turns instantly, and you see that it wasn’t dread or annoyance on his face that made him turn away, it was the fact that he was secretly happy about the thought of allowing you to get pregnant. He hooks his index finger under your chin gently and guides you in for a kiss.

He lays you back down, his hand rubbing your arm as your mouths lazily move against each other.

You break the kiss to stare deeply into each other’s eyes.

“Do you want to have a child with me?” you ask. He combs his hand into your hair with a thoughtful frown.

“I do. I want a little daughter who’s exactly like you,” he confesses. You chuckle.

“What if we get a son?”

“Then I’ll teach him to be less of a little shit to his mother than I was.”

You huff, trying to contain the sudden surge of giddiness. Having children was something you never even considered before Levi. But it feels right. It feels like a natural expansion to your life. Even if it’s rather soon, you both seem ready and enthusiastic about the thought of starting a family.

Levi wipes both of you clean and then gathers you in his arms. He burrows you under the fluffy blanket, a protective arm looping around your chest to spoon you from behind.

It’s quiet for a moment.

“Levi,” you ask as you rest your hand over his and lazily fondle the wedding ring on his finger. You have the habit of idle chit-chat after sex. Sometimes it annoys Levi a little, but today he seems to be in the mood to humour you.

“What?”

“Remember how I said I applied for a job at Ackerman Corp. because it was the highest building in the area?”

“Yeah.”

“I actually remember being pretty disappointed that my office was on the third floor and not the top. It wasn’t the most ideal place to get used to high places.”

He grunts in acknowledgement, his face pressing into your hair as he closes his eyes, relaxed but listening closely.

You frown as something occurs to you.

“Why did you hire me?”

“What?”

“You hired me to be your personal assistant, out of nowhere, after just a couple of meetings I attended in your presence. Why did you hire me?”

Levi falls quiet and you instantly know the answer is something really out there.

“The tea,” he finally grunts.

“Tea?”

“The first meeting, you made a really good blend of Orange Rooibos and the next one, you brewed perfect Mint Green.”

You blink.

“You hired me, a complete novice, to be your personal assistant because you liked the _tea_ I made for you?”

“Tea is important,” Levi argues instantly, a small awkward twinge to his voice that he’s desperately trying to cover up with assertiveness. “And you’re not one to talk, you just picked the highest building you could find.”

“Oh, shut up,” you mutter, amused. “Or I’ll send Hange screenshots of that one time you managed to download an R-rated sticker pack and accidentally sent me a nude sticker of Aladdin sucking the Genie’s d-”

“To have those screenshots is in clear violation of the non-disclosure agreement you signed when we first got engaged-”

“You tore those papers, they hold zero weight now,” you chuckle and close your eyes. Levi draws in a sharp breath to start arguing.

“I love you,” you interrupt and press your back against his firm chest. He falls quiet for just a second.

“Me, too,” he finally mutters with an awkward grunt and pulls you tighter against him.

Such silly reasons, for both of you, to have your paths intersect all those years ago. But you guess it makes sense. Life is full of small miracles like that. You can appreciate the importance of those minor things that tweaked the fate and brought you together. The building blocks that lay the foundation to one’s life.

A high building and a cup of well-made tea.

As bizarre as that sounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand scene!
> 
> It's a wrap everybody, the main story is concluded! I can't believe all that's left is the epilogue (and the eventual Erwin x Sofia side story haha). Sorry this chapter took a while, I've been working on every fic little by little which resulted in me completing none of the updates haha oops ^^;
> 
> ~~You're welcome for the mental image of Erwin performing subpar magic tricks to Sabre Dance in a glittering suit and top hat while fucking up constantly.~~
> 
> Sidenote: If you've interacted with me somewhere (Twitter, Tumblr or comments) enough that I know your first name and you see the said first name appear somewhere in my stories as an OC, that's probably not a coincidence and I planted you a small Easter egg. To those I've written in the epilogue ~~as Levi's daughters~~ , hope you don't mind and if you absolutely don't want me to use your name, just let me know and I won't :) I just thought it could be a fun way to give nods to those of you who always write me shit on Twitter and leave comments ^^ ([here's my Twitter](https://twitter.com/SquibblesMcGoo), follow me for 24/7 shitposting - sometimes drunken, I love talking with my readers and I try to always be nice) 
> 
> Anyway, I'm aching to hear your thoughts now that the story is done, our babies are finally married and we got our happy ending. And if you're wondering what's next, then you can always head on to my AO3 profile where I have two on-going Levi/Reader fics and another Reader/Everyone fic ^^
> 
> Until the epilogue!


	20. Epilogue

Your legs feel heavy as you step inside. You kick your heels off and open the top buttons of your shirt. You rub your stomach absent-mindedly as you make your way through the empty apartment to the bathroom.

It’s hardly past midday. Levi won’t be home in quite some time.

You heard that pregnancy can be a pain, but you weren’t expecting the nausea to be quite as strong.

You visit the bathroom to gargle with some mouthwash, the pungent taste of vomit still in your mouth. You then strip your clothes off and go in the shower. Warm water always helps you feel better.

You sigh as you stand under the soothing stream of water. It’s still plenty of time before your maternity leave starts. Despite that, you have been suffering from persistent nausea.

You can only thank your luck that Erwin had no issues letting you leave early and work from home so you don’t have to hurl in the office. It’s the first time it has happened, and you doubt it’ll be the last.

It’s five more months until you welcome the baby. Levi has been much fussier than usual, he already started campaigning for a new “family-sized” house, away from the bustle of the city. He’s shown you a few candidates, gotten in more than one argument about the price tag and whether or not it can be considered _standard_ for a house to have a jacuzzi.

He’s already bought a collection of clothes and toys, all matching and from reputable designers. You roll your eyes every time you see him carefully fold yet another miniature-sized jumpsuit in the drawer labelled _baby,_ but you leave him to it. It means a lot to him, so you don’t kick a fuss.

As you step out of the bathroom, fresh and relaxed in your loungewear, you feel a bit sluggish still.

Glancing at the clock, you conclude it’s still lunchtime. You can take a nap and then resume working later. Hell, if it were up to Erwin, he’d give you the whole day off, but you don’t want to put him in a tough spot.

You walk to the bedroom and slump down on the bed. You feel the silky sheets against your skin, which is still warm and tender from the water.

It only takes you a couple of minutes to fall asleep.

You slumber for almost an hour and miss the way your phone starts ringing in your handbag, forgotten in the hallway.

It’s not until the front door slams open thirty minutes later and someone hurries in that you stir. Opening your eyes, you blink a bit. Glancing at the bedside table, you realise how long you were out.

Just as you sit up and rub your eyes, the door to the bedroom is practically rammed open and Levi marches into the room. He’s a little out of breath, eyes wide and carrying a very particular gleam you’ve learnt to recognise during your time together.

His eyes land on you, and immediately, he relaxes and lets out a long exhale.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” he says, tone a bit short. You smile sheepishly.

“I must have forgotten my phone in my purse.”

“I got worried and called Erwin. He said he sent you home because you weren’t feeling well. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it wasn’t that bad and I was just going to take a short nap and then resume work,” you explain, temperate but firm. You get where his irritation stems from, but you haven’t done anything wrong.

Levi releases a long sigh. Then, he climbs on the bed and yanks you in.

You easily slump back down on the bed, in his embrace, and press your head back against his shoulder.

“I’m fine, Levi,” you tell him. You feel him bury his face into your hair.

“What if you weren’t?” he voices his deepest insecurity. “What if you were gone?”

His arms tighten possessively around your chest. You sigh gently. This isn’t the first time this has happened. You place a soft hand on his and turn to face him.

“I’m fine and so is the baby. We’re not going anywhere,” you say to calm his nerves. You press small kisses all around his face. On his cheeks, his forehead, his jaw, his lips, letting him feel you’re near.

He places a hand on your stomach and even though there’s no kicking yet, it still makes him relax.

You curl up against him and rest your head in the crook of his neck. On your left hand, the bracelet and rings are in place, just like always.

“I couldn’t go on,” he confesses, an awkward but sincere twinge to his voice. “If something happened to you. Which is why I worry so much.”

“You could,” you hum with a smile. He opens a mouth to argue, but you stop him by nuzzling your nose against his gorgeous-smelling neck. “It wouldn’t be easy, but you could. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“Again, you’re underestimating yourself,” he sighs. You pop up from his neck to give him a raised eyebrow.

“Trust me, Mr Ackerman, I know my worth. Only, I know your strength, as well. But that’s a moot discussion to have because I’m fine and so is the baby. In just a few short months, we’ll have our daughter.”

Levi presses a grumpy yet satiated kiss on your lips and pulls you back down to rest on him.

“Rest for today. I’m sure Erwin will understand.”

“I’ll rest for a couple of hours. I’m no longer nauseous.”

“He hasn’t made any more advances on you has he?”

“Levi,” you laugh. “You ask that every week and the answer is still no. He’s still very smitten by my old friend Sofia. Not that I can say I don’t see why. They’re made for each other. Just the other day, she gave him tickets to a kids’ magic boot camp as a joke.”

“He ended up going, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. Just to one-up her. I hear the kids really grew to love him, though, but he had to do some convincing to the teacher and the parents that he wasn’t there to creep on the kids.”

“Sounds like a handful.”

“I was amused,” you yawn and cuddle up tighter against Levi. A moment of silence passes.

“I love you,” you murmur.

Levi’s hold tightens as a result.

-

As you walk out of the gym, rubbing your tender neck, Levi’s already waiting for you in the lobby. You look at him, sitting in one of the luxurious armchairs in his prim suit, casually bouncing a baby on his knee while she giggles and babbles. His eyes are searching the dispensing crowd, and when he sees you and Sofia, he stands up.

“Always on the dot,” Sofia remarks with a harmless smile. “As expected of Director Fussypants.”

You roll your eyes a little at the name.

Your muscles are tender. Who knew simple dance lessons could do such a number on your body? Must be your sedentary job.

Just as you’re about to climb down the last two steps from the dressing room to the lobby, you hear someone call for you.

“Miss Ackerman!”

You turn, just to see Julio, your teacher. He’s holding a pink water bottle, and a glance in your open bag confirms what you’re surmising; you forgot it in the hall.

You stop at the base of the stairs as he hops to you. He gives you the bottle with a smile.

“You’ve improved a lot. I hope you’ll continue the lessons next spring.”

“I probably will,” you answer politely. It’s your first term visiting this gym, it’s one Sofia recommended to you. You’ve steadily grown closer again since she started dating your boss.

He places a friendly hand on your shoulder.

“When you train at home, just remember; good posture!” he says and uses his hand to gently pull your shoulders back.

You’re not too surprised when you feel a possessive arm firmly lock around your waist. Levi holds Lara up against his chest with one arm and gives Julio a stare oozing of “back off”.

“I’ll have you know that she’s _Mrs_ Ackerman,” Levi informs him, voice dull but the venom in his eyes can’t be mistaken. He doesn’t like anyone being unaware that you’re happily married.

Julio looks legitimately confused. Not at the correction, but at Levi’s attitude. Mostly because he wasn’t flirting or even being friendlier than usual.

“Thank you, Julio. I’m sure I’ll be back in the spring,” you smile at the instructor.

“Alright, then. Sofia,” he greets your friend and then swiftly leaves, giving Levi a small glance over his shoulder.

Sofia watches with obvious amusement as you give Levi an exasperated look. This possessive bastard, always doing this whenever someone as much as touches you.

Lara is giggling a little in Levi’s hold, and she extends a curious hand to tug at your hair. Her black, straight hair and sharp, grey eyes are straight from her father. The only thing that you see yourself in is the warmth of her skin tone.

“Let’s go, then,” Levi mutters, obviously eager to get you away from the instructor he now sees as a threat. “Do you need a lift?” he pauses to ask Sofia.

“I’m good. Erwin should be here at any moment. We’re going out. Do you want to come with?” Sofia asks.

“We would love to, but-”

“There’s my goddaughter!”

You and Levi turn just to see a big face with a friendly smile, crouching down in front of Levi.

Erwin hasn’t as much as changed out of his work clothes, he’s wearing the exact same grey suit you saw him in at work. He gives you a small friendly smile and then focuses all of his attention to Lara.

He’s very fond of her and was over the moon when you and Levi unanimously settled on him as her godfather.

You suspect half of his adulation of your daughter is because she’s still young and dumb enough to stare with her mouth hanging open when he performs his subpar magic tricks. Sometimes, she even acts surprised or bursts out in laughter.

Erwin’s never had such a warm audience.

“Bababoboboo,” Erwin babbles and wiggles his index finger in front of Lara, his face pulled into a wide yet somehow very disturbing grin.

Lara blinks at him with wide eyes, and you can’t tell if she’s seconds away from bursting out in tears or laughter.

“You’re scaring her,” Levi instantly scolds Erwin and turns away to shield his daughter’s eyes from her godfather. He looks at her worriedly but when she doesn’t burst out in tears, he settles for giving Erwin a glare instead of a full lash out.

Sofia stifles a laugh.

“How come you never babble to me like that?” she asks. Erwin straightens his back with a harmless shrug.

“You never asked. How’s my dancing queen?” he asks and pulls Sofia close to kiss her forehead.

“Good, as long as you’re planning on taking me somewhere with food.” She pats her stomach with a sigh.

“Darling, you should know I would never make you go hungry. You tell me where you want to have your post-workout binge and I will drive you right there no questions asked.”

“Burger King,” she decides with a nod. Levi looks scandalised which she expertly ignores.

“I would love nothing more than to fill my loved one’s body with a bunch of unhealthy fats, sugar and cholesterol,” Erwin swears solemnly.

“You’re the perfect man,” Sofia sighs as she pretends to be lovestruck and strokes Erwin’s firm chest.

“You are the perfect woman,” Erwin shoots back with a charming smile.

Levi snorts and hands you the baby.

“Let’s go. I can’t bear to watch this.”

“See you at work tomorrow, Erwin,” you tell him over your shoulder, but the two are busy making out. You doubt they’re doing it out of pure affection, a big part of them both relishes in seeing Levi groan and roll his eyes.

As you get to the car, Levi hops on the driver’s seat.

You put Lara in her seat and climb to the front. You reach a playful hand to rub his cheek.

“Do you wish I would stroke your chest with stars in my eyes as well?”

“I’d know it wouldn’t be genuine.”

You laugh.

“Luckily our kids will grow up to be more sophisticated than those two,” Levi remarks as he starts the car.

-

”You little shit on a roasted stick, I’m going to kick the everlasting crap out of y-”

“Care to inform me what’s going on?”

“He freaking started it! I said he could have the game once I complete this level but he doesn’t listen, that tiny little freak!”

Levi lets out a long-suffering sigh as he glares at the two kids in front of him, sitting in the middle of the living room floor fighting over the game controller.

You’re sitting on the couch, feet leisurely swinging over the armrest as you gladly leave him to sort out the mess.

Things are very lively nowadays, even though the worst years child rearing -wise are far behind you.

You don’t know how you ended up having three children when initially, you were hard set on one. Maybe both of you reflected on the loneliness of growing up as an only child and subsequently wanted to give your children the benefit of having siblings to share their lives with.

Milo, your youngest, just turned nine this summer. With a straightforward attitude to things and a quick-witted mouth, he seems to be taking after you quite a lot. You look over his brown, messy hair, the observant and sharp eyes, the darker skin compared to his siblings and the way he tries to sneakily take the controller from his sister.

Olivia, rather than you or Levi, has a striking similarity to Levi’s mother, down to her dark eyes and black, straight hair. Her eyes are always gentle and well-meaning, except when Milo manages to get on her nerves like this. Then she’s straight to murder mode.

Fourteen and in the midst of her stormiest hormonal swings, she’s been trying your nerves a lot lately. The fact that Levi has a very soft spot for her thanks to her resemblance to his mother does nothing to help you establish healthy boundaries.

“It’s my turn to play. It’s not my fault you suck at that game so much it takes you four hours to complete one level,” Milo jabs, unimpressed. “You know, the strength with which you press down the keys doesn’t change the fact that you clearly have no idea what you’re doing-”

“You’re dead! Deader than Jesus during Easter!”

“I believe the message of Easter was that he literally can’t be killed. Not that I expected you to know even such a simple fact,” Milo quips back, his wit just as sharp as yours.

Olivia hisses and launches at him. Soon, it’s an all-out brawl. The corner of Levi’s eye twitches in annoyance, and he walks to the two to unceremoniously grab the backs of their shirts and pull them apart.

“Listen here, you little devils, I have no idea what this is about, but I can promise you that if you don’t stop screaming right now I will make you regret it with every cell of your being-”

“You might want to dumb that down, I’m sure Ollie has no idea what cells are-”

“I will end your existence, you insufferable little ninnyhammer!“

You leave Levi to deal with the two kids and instead get up walk to the stairway.

“Lara! Honey, we’re leaving in an hour to see grandma!” you yell upstairs. You hear the door to your oldest daughter’s room crack open just a tiny bit.

“Not coming,” she announces and slams the door shut.

You let out a long-suffering sigh and start climbing upstairs. Lara has stayed in her room for days now, and it doesn’t take stellar observational skills to realise she’s upset about something.

You knock on her door.

“Don’t come in,” she mutters.

“I’m coming in. I’ve given you a few days, now it’s time to talk,” you tell her. You open the door and walk in the room. Looking around, you notice the impressive collection of instant ramen cups on her desk she’s snuck to her room in the middle of the night after serially refusing to come down for dinner, thinking you won’t notice.

You look at her laptop blinking on the desk, the piles of clothes on the floor and the overflowing paper bin. Levi claims he gets _physically ill_ whenever he has to come to Lara’s room and accuses you of giving her the messy genes.

It smells stuffy. You glance at the lump under the blankets. Even all the way to the door, you can hear her music through the earbuds.

You walk to the window and crack it open to get some air in. You know better than opening the blinds, she’ll lash out in a manner very like her father if you do.

You sit down on the edge of her bed and nudge the lump casually.

“Hey,” you start with a conversational tone.

She’s quiet for a while until finally sighing, turning off the music and emerging from under the covers.

“What do you want?” she mutters, though she sounds more tired than angry.

“Just curious to hear what made my daughter hole up like a hikikomori,” you hum. She’s still in pyjamas, her dark hair pointing in all kinds of creative directions as she hasn’t bothered with brushing it.

You look at the narrow, sharp eyes of deep grey. She looks so much like Levi it’s eerie. In fact, until Milo was born, it seemed like your genes were meant to only manifest as a warmer skin tone while everything else came from their father.

“I had a fight with Natalia,” she confesses uneasily. “And now she said she doesn’t want to be together anymore.”

Ah. So, it’s Natalia. Lara’s classmate whom she’s spent a lot of time with since this summer.

“Is there anything you can do to make things right?” you ask gently and absently start arranging her hair back in place. She lets you and instead just sits up properly and loops her arms around her legs.

“I don’t think so. She wants nothing to do with me.” Lara looks miserable and you sigh. You pull her in for a hug.

She very much acts like she’s just suffering through it for your sake, but you can tell from the stuttering sob she releases against your shoulder that she’s been craving for a good hug.

You wait a brief second until you start prying, very carefully at that.

“Lara, you know you can tell us anything, right?”

She doesn’t reply.

“No matter how _close_ you were with Natalia, we won’t turn on you,” you add.

Of course, you know. Levi knows, too. The way her walls are covered with posters of her favourite female idols. The way she never talks about boys or has brought one home. The way you see her and Natalia sometimes subtly brush hands or touch each other when they think you’re not paying attention.

You know your daughter is, if not a lesbian, then at least not completely straight.

When the silence continues, you gather she’s not ready to tell you yet. You kiss her forehead and pull back. You’ll have to wait until she’s ready, you can’t force these things.

“It’s alright to feel sad about losing an important person. It might be that she doesn’t want to make up and wants to go her own way. I know it’s hard, but eventually, you will have to move on. You can’t keep hiding away like this.”

Lara casts her eyes down and bites her lip in contemplation.

“We’re all going to see grandma and after that, we get takeout and watch some movies. You can pick the movie as long as it’s appropriate for Ollie and Milo. How’s that sound?”

She’s a teenage girl, which means she’d rather die than smile happily at anything her mother suggests, but the small twinkle of excitement in her eyes tells you enough.

“You get ready, we’re leaving in an hour.”

You make it to the door until she suddenly speaks up.

“Mum.” You can hear the nervousness in her voice. The fear of rejection.

You smile knowingly to yourself. You know what’s to come.

When you exit the room a dozen minutes later, the living room on the floor below has quieted down. You can hear the steady pressing of buttons and the grunts and mutters of both Milo and Olivia.

So, Levi made them play together. A risky move that might result in another fresh blood-lust when one of them inevitably loses, but you leave it be.

Levi’s waiting for you outside, leaning against the hallway wall with crossed arms. He raises an eyebrow.

“Well? Did you get to the bottom of things?”

“Our daughter is gay.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“And she broke up with her girlfriend.”

“I see.”

Levi looks at the room reluctantly, mostly because he knows it to be a complete pigsty, but he knows he’ll have to go give her his approval as well. It’s the fatherly thing to do.

He moves for the door.

“If those two start acting up, it’s your turn to set them straight,” he says as he knocks.

“Lara. I’m coming in.”

He disappears inside. You doubt he’s going to be as gentle and loving as you are, but he can be patient and accommodating when he wants to. He just tends to be very matter-of-fact about it.

You leave the two alone and wander back downstairs to look after the two others, and when Levi saunters down the stairs a few minutes later, you’re not surprised that he’s carrying an admirable collection of trash and dishes with him. He still can’t stand a mess.

Through the baby years, he changed dirty diapers without making a fuss, he cleaned up baby vomit and baby food from his thousand-dollar suits without as much as blinking, but he still hasn’t gotten any more desensitized to messy environments.

You watch Olivia hand Milo his ass in a round of Mario Kart, Milo throwing a hissy fit about losing and an hour later, you leave the house with a better-looking Lara.

You settle on the front seat. While the kids are getting on in the back, you feel Levi’s fingers search your hand on your lap to brush over the silver bracelet almost like it’s a lucky charm.

Your eyes meet. You smile. He leans in to kiss you.

“Gross.”

“Get a room.”

“Great. Now I need to bleach my eyes.”

When you pull back, Levi only needs to throw them one icy glare to make them shut up. You chuckle as he starts the car.

Your perfect little family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg. I can't believe this story is done. Everyone got their happy ending. Frida and Levi got their family. Everything is good.
> 
> I haven't given up on the Erwin x Sofia side story, I will post it sometime in the future, though as of now I have no schedule for when it'll be. I'll add it as a nice surprise when you least expect it. Nonetheless, I'm going to mark this story as complete now since the main storyline is fully concluded :)
> 
> I would like to thank everyone who read this story, commented, gave kudos, raved to me on [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/SquibblesMcGoo) (follow me for non-stop shitposting and rants about fic-writing) and all the other ways you guys have cheered me on. It's been a blast and I can't believe I'm saying this, but this story currently sits at the Number Four spot out of all Levi/Reader fics when sorted by kudos, and number one when sorted by comments or bookmarks. I'm beyond baffled that any of my stories (let alone two of them with The Carnivore also in top 5) would make it this far. Thank you so, so much! I love what I do and to be rewarded for it like this is mind-boggling.
> 
> I have a bunch of other Levi/Reader stories on-going so if you're interested, feel free to check out my [profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquibblesMcGoo) here on AO3. Or, if you want a quick fix for some smut or short stories, I have plenty over on my [Tumblr](https://heichoudaddery.tumblr.com) and more to come as I complete more prompts!
> 
> I hope everyone is happy with the ever after our dear Frida got with Levi and as always, comments are loved, appreciated and received with a big dumb smile.
> 
> Thank you so much <3  
> I'll see you around!


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